* iGamingToday…
Bally’s Chicago was supposed to be a $1.7 billion resort project. Instead, the company has now stopped construction on everything except the casino itself, leaving a major question hanging over the development: whether the business case Bally’s signed up for still exists.
The immediate dispute is over video gaming terminals. Chicago wants them. Bally’s does not.
The city’s 2026 budget already counts on $6.8 million in tax revenue from VGTs. The calculation assumes 3,300 eligible businesses would participate, with 80% installing the maximum six machines. That would put more than 15,000 terminals across Chicago.
The numbers behind the machines help explain why the city is pushing ahead. Illinois had 49,738 VGTs operating during the first six months of 2026, generating an average of $34,252 per terminal. Applied to Chicago’s projected machine count, that points to roughly $1 billion in annual revenue.
For Bally’s, that is a direct competitive threat.
The company argues that a large expansion of video gaming would weaken the prospects of its casino. Chicago aldermen see the issue differently. Twenty-seven council members have told Bally’s that the agreement covered more than a casino floor and that the company is still expected to complete the broader development it promised.
* But…
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Thursday, Aug 13, 26 @ 11:42 am:
It would be interesting to see any communications between MBJ’s administration and Bally’s, although I know we never will. Recall Maze Jackson is the lobbyist for the National Association of Promotional Retailers. It seems just as likely that the 1,500 union jobs are being held hostage so the shady sweepstakes machines can keep operating. All the pieces matter.
- ChicagoBars - Thursday, Aug 13, 26 @ 12:09 pm:
I could (and have) happily spend weeks dumping on Mayor Lightfoot’s chosen City casino partner for their Chicago finally legalizing VGT hysteria. After all “VGT will be really bad” is a better media narrative than “Gee, we sure have missed all our financial projections by a mile so far” (banned punctuation x2).
So I’ll simply point out they are trying to execute three mega projects in three major markets (NYC, Chicago, and Vegas) simultaneously and there isn’t a lot of evidence they have the bandwidth, experience, or cash flow to pull it off. Meanwhile their quarterly report to the SEC is late, for the third time this year.
So let’s not let a hastily chosen by a one term Mayor hijack a valuable source of extra revenue for Chicago neighborhood bars & restaurants just to appease a casino operator that is deeply mediocre at generating all their promised revenue for City pensions.
- JS Mill - Thursday, Aug 13, 26 @ 12:30 pm:
=The company argues that a large expansion of video gaming would weaken the prospects of its casino. =
The Hard Rock casino in Rockford seems to be doing just fine and they have slots all over Rockford. So I find this all a bit dubious.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Aug 13, 26 @ 12:34 pm:
===The Hard Rock casino in Rockford seems to be doing just fine and they have slots all over Rockford===
Yep, it’s totally bogus.
Also, with sweepstakes games everywhere in the city, why didn’t Bally’s demand they be closed down?
Makes zero sense.
- Shytown - Thursday, Aug 13, 26 @ 12:47 pm:
Color me surprised. The City choosing Bally’s from the start was cloaked in shadiness and thank you Chicago Bars for paying attention to where one can find real actual factual information about Bally’s and putting it out there – no knock on reporters covering this day to day, but they should have checked this source as well.
- Juice - Thursday, Aug 13, 26 @ 1:28 pm:
Its refreshing to see Bally’s going out of their way to one-up Kevin Warren for biggest scam artist trying to keep as much of taxpayers dollars for themselves splashing themselves all over Chicago media.
There is just not a ton of evidence at this point that video gaming is going to do that much financial damage to the Chicago casino. But to me, the clearest point is this. Video gaming, in theory, is a direct competitor for slot machines. In the 13 municipalities that have both a casino and video gaming, 17% of the AGR is coming from table games, the rest are coming from slots.
In the three cities that prohibit video gaming, Chicago, East St. Louis, and Des Plaines (which has one fraternal/veterans organization with VLTs, but nowhere else), 35% of the AGR is coming from table games.
I’m sure video gaming has had an impact on the casino market, and it seems like table game revenue as a share of total AGR is up across the board from where it was over a decade ago. But the clientele Bally’s needs along the river are the table game players who are more likely to be the high rollers.
And for their model, the best way to get people to spend a lot of money at their casino is to get people to be staying on prem or at the site for other reasons and gambling to pass the time for their other event. So stalling their auxiliary projects because they are throwing a tantrum on video poker makes zero business sense. (But from their introduction to the Chicago market, it has not seemed like these guys have a lot of business sense.)
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Aug 13, 26 @ 1:49 pm:
===and Des Plaines (which has one fraternal/veterans organization with VLTs, but nowhere else)===
That town is surrounded by suburbs with tons of VGTs.
- hisgirlfriday - Thursday, Aug 13, 26 @ 4:15 pm:
Still trying to understand why the current incarnation of a Bally’s casino refuses to do any advertising or promotion in comparison to all the other casinos.