As COVID mitigation guidelines continue to ease, allowing for casinos to resume operations, Hawthorne Race Course and PointsBet have been approved by the Illinois Gaming Board to open the State’s first off-track and non-casino sports book beginning on Wednesday (Jan. 27).

The newly-remodelled Club Hawthorne in suburban Crestwood is part of Hawthorne’s off-tracking betting (OTB) network, and is the first of three such OTB locations that will open under Illinois’ sports betting law. The PointsBet Sportsbook at Hawthorne Race Course previously opened in September — the first racetrack sports book in Illinois and the closest sports book to downtown Chicago.

“Hawthorne is the only gaming company in the Chicagoland area that is able to open sports books at off-track and non-casino locations, so this is an opportunity on which we focused a lot of energy and investment,” said Tim Carey, president and CEO of Hawthorne Race Course. “We completely remodelled the space to create the best sports viewing and sports betting destination in the State.”

The PointsBet Sportsbook at Club Hawthorne in Crestwood features a 163-inch Hero LED video wall and 24 75-inch TVs bookending the viewing area, and a fully integrated, state-of-the-art sound system to create an arena-like experience. There are six self-service kiosks and five betting clerk stations, which are socially distanced and separated by plexiglass barriers. The venue features curbside parking and space for up to 500 people (when at full capacity post-COVID) with leather captain’s chairs, small group couches and highboy tables.

“As sports fans, we all love the game, love the action, but we also love experiencing it with other fans,” said Johnny Aitken, CEO of PointsBet USA. “The unique opportunity to open a new style of standalone sports books with Hawthorne required us to develop something that would match the best-in-class customer experience that PointsBet provides on our mobile platform. This isn’t just the best sports book in Chicago, it’s the best sports bar, too.”

The PointsBet Sportsbook at Club Hawthorne will also feature exclusive retail-only betting promotions and sweepstakes. Current health safety protocols provide for limited seating capacity which will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis; however bet-and-go services for cash wagering are available. The sports book will open from 12 noon-10 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. on weekends.

(Hawthorne Race Course)