Fanatics Sportsbook has switched its Illinois online sports betting market-access partner from Hawthorne Race Course to Argosy Casino Alton after receiving regulatory approval. The change keeps Fanatics’ mobile sportsbook operating while reducing exposure to the growing uncertainty surrounding Hawthorne’s finances and racing operations.
The move is largely invisible to customers, but it is meaningful inside Illinois’ tethered licensing model, where a mobile sportsbook must be tied to an approved land-based license holder.
What changes for bettors, and what stays the same
Fanatics told Illinois users they should not see disruption, and that existing bets and account balances remain available in the app. In other words, this is a licensing back-end change, not a relaunch.
Retail is also not being ripped up. Fanatics has continued to treat Hawthorne as part of its on-the-ground footprint, even as the online “tether” shifts to Argosy. That split lets Fanatics keep a track-based presence while protecting the mobile business from partner instability.
Why Hawthorne became a risk Fanatics could not ignore
The switch landed days after the Illinois Racing Board suspended harness racing at Hawthorne’s operator, Suburban Downs, citing financial integrity concerns and a failure to provide requested documentation showing it could operate assigned 2026 race dates.
Local reporting has tied the crisis to unpaid obligations and bounced checks, with horsemen and workers describing weeks of uncertainty and repeated cancellations. Even though that dispute sits on the racing side, it creates reputational and operational spillover risk for any sportsbook tied to the track.
What regulators and the market will watch next
The next checkpoint is whether Hawthorne can satisfy the Racing Board’s reinstatement expectations and stabilize racing operations. If it cannot, the track’s wider plans and partnerships will face deeper scrutiny.
For sportsbooks, the broader lesson is that “tethers” are not passive. When a land-based partner shows signs of distress, operators may move quickly to protect continuity, even if the customer experience stays the same day to day.
