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* My Crain’s Chicago business column…
Alby Gallun at Crain’s Chicago Business recently reported that sales at Chicago’s bars and restaurants plunged 64 percent during the first half of 2020.
The worldwide pandemic crashed a lot of businesses. The city’s particularly tight restrictions in response to the crisis made things even tougher. In comparison, the six-county Chicago metropolitan area saw bar and restaurant sales fall “only” 30 percent.
This is not a criticism of the city’s restrictions. Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her team had to do what they had (and have) to do to keep the virus contained. Chicago was slammed hard by COVID-19 in the early going, and no sane person wants to risk a repeat or even an echo of that madness again.
But the restrictions, and the coming cold weather, mean the city’s bars and restaurants are facing annihilation. Something has to be done. But only a fool would depend on Congress for adequate help. Illinois’ coffers aren’t exactly flush with cash, and Chicago’s budget is deeply in the red.
So the city ought to let these barely surviving businesses help themselves by finally opting in to legalized video gaming.
The games were approved by the state over a decade ago, but Chicago has never allowed them. Some folks had moral objections, and others wanted to make sure a potential downtown casino would have a gambling monopoly.
The end result is that the perpetually cash-strapped city has left a ton of tax revenues on the table while it waited for a casino that never materialized.
And now, when a Chicago casino has finally been approved by the General Assembly, the city’s leaders are even more reluctant to approve video gaming.
City Chief Financial Officer Jennie Huang Bennett said last month that video gaming “could have a ‘cannibalization’ effect on revenues the city is counting on from an in-the-works casino and cost thousands of jobs,” according to WTTW.
So, I reached out to one of the most trusted voices in all of Chicago’s hospitality industry, the @ChicagoBars Twitter account. The fact that a Crain’s editor gave me the go-ahead to interview a Twitter account should tell you how authoritative the source is.
Click here to read the rest before commenting, please.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 2:51 am
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Previous Post: The Republicans have another weapon as powerful as “Madigan”
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excellent article , what the business community needs
Comment by 14th ward Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 8:08 am
Great piece. Love that twitter account too.
Comment by Notorious RBG Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 9:20 am
Interviewing a twitter account. Not sure I’ve ever seen that before. But groundbreaking, for sure, especially for a trusted source like CapFax. To the issue: No doubt there would be cannibalization, but hey, unless the government grants you a perpetual monopoly and promises that you’ll never have competition, that’s bound to happen. Chicago’s attempt to protect a casino monopoly won’t work, if there are neighboring cities/counties/states that allow video gaming. I think Chicago may have missed the casino boat (no pun intended).
Comment by Southern Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 9:55 am
== Chicago’s attempt to protect a casino monopoly won’t work, if there are neighboring cities/counties/states that allow video gaming.==
This never made sense to me. The crowd that a Chicago casino would be targeting is not the same people who want to sit in a dive bar playing slots.
Look at the table limits at blackjack and the like at Rivers on a Friday or Saturday night.
Comment by Homebody Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 10:28 am
“Interviewing a twitter account. Not sure I’ve ever seen that before.”
I was surprised too!
Comment by ChicagoBars Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 11:22 am
To the post,
If you’re not checking out @ChicagoBars you are missing out what twitter could and *should* be;
Engagement, “education”, comedy, and facts. A treat would be to have a Malört shot… post pandemic.
Rich interviewing @ChicagoBars is like sharing a table and those Malört shots, the knowledge to this, that’s why we all come here because Rich gets the knowledge from the best sources to ask. It’s next level.
Both shine here, it’s using the platform Rich has to explain the realities from different perspectives, I’m smarter reading it.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 12:55 pm
Casinos love winners best…they attract losers…in drove$…don’t you know.
Comment by Dotnonymous Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 1:01 pm
I’m personally against gaming, have a negative physical reaction to the big casinos when I’ve gone to Vegas for conferences, and find the video gambling in my area taverns depressing.
But I love the local bars too much to see them all disappear. I’m with @ChicagoBars.
Comment by WH Mess Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 2:22 pm
Rich should have noted the interview was held in an “undisclosed location”.
Comment by Dance Band on the Titanic Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 2:50 pm
Do I trust Chicago taverns to get video gaming right long before the city of Chicago gets their casino right?
All day, every day and twice on Sundays*
– MrJM
*after 9 am provided it is “incidental or secondary to the serving of food”
Comment by @misterjayem Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 4:01 pm
Rich, can you please interview Chicago Party Aunt next?
Comment by Keyrock Monday, Oct 5, 20 @ 11:27 pm