As the state of Illinois inches closer to legalizing sports gambling, a Chicago startup took home first place at a startup competition during one of the top sports betting conferences in the world.
LineLibrary emerged as the top startup at the Launchpad competition at ICE North America, a large gambling trade show and conference traditionally held in Europe that made its U.S. debut this month in Boston.
LineLibrary, founded by Chicagoan Sam Rattner, is building a risk management platform for sportsbook operators. The startup says it's restructuring how operators can facilitate risk in real time via a live exchange. Today, most third-party software companies sell risk management applications and other software that's very capital intensive. LineLibrary is a more cost-efficient way for them to mitigate risk, Rattner said.
The startup is still in the development stage, and expects to launch a beta version in the coming months. Rattner said LineLibrary is looking to raise a round of funding soon, and expects to be fully live by the 2020 NFL season.
He noted that even though the startup is still in its early stages, winning the ICE startup competition provided validation for what LineLibrary is building.
"A lot of VCs who are investing in the space were at ICE, and it sped up a lot of discussions," he said. "It was a ton of exposure."
LineLibrary's win comes as the state of Illinois appears likely to legalize sports gambling in the near future. A pending bill in Springfield is looking to make sports wagering legal in Illinois, with Gov. JB Pritzker counting on $200 million in sports betting taxes should it get approved.
Legalized sports gambling could present an opportunity for Chicago startups that aim to operate in the growing industry. Rattner said there are similarities between sports betting and high-frequency trading, which Chicago has historically excelled at. The city has a deep pool of engineering talent who could prove valuable to local sports betting upstarts.
"We have no plans to go anywhere. As we grow, this is where we want to be to be able to recruit that talent," he said. "Chicago is going to be a really hot spot for sports betting startups. Once [sports betting becomes legal], I think you’re going to see a lot of other sports betting startups pop up here."
