Bally’s is nearing the possibility of opening a casino in the River West area of Chicago, Illinois.
The Illinois Gaming Board’s website lists “Bally’s” as having a pending license.
The $1.7 billion Bally’s casino project in Chicago has been approved by the city, bringing it one step closer to completion. Illinois currently has 11 casinos, with five more under construction, including the Bally’s project.
The latest estimates indicate that the large downtown casino project is expected to open in 2025.
At the same time, Bally’s is in the process of setting up a temporary casino near Medinah Temple, with hopes of opening as early as 2025.
Chicago casino could deliver $400 million in revenue yearly
As per the Casino Recommendation Report released by the City of Chicago on May 5th:
A Chicago-based casino is projected to bring in approximately $400 million in tax revenues annually for both the City and State of Illinois. The City is anticipated to receive a yearly portion of around $200 million as a result.
The revenue projections mentioned include non-gaming sources of income such as:
- Sales
- Hotels
- Restaurants
- Income and property taxes revenue for Chicago.
- Each year, different taxing bodies collect property tax revenues, with Chicago Public Schools receiving between $11 million and $19 million.
- The casino revenue will be allocated to The Rebuild Illinois Capital Plan by the state.
Nevertheless, there are skeptics who doubt the potential profitability of a casino in downtown Chicago.
Ald. Brendan Reilly was one of three members of the casino committee who voted against advancing the project during the meeting. He proposed that the city should take more time to evaluate the significant financial implications of the large-scale project.
Reilly raised concerns about the revenue projections for Bally’s casino, which the City Council approved with little scrutiny.
The casino must generate $550,000 in daily taxes, resulting in a total income of $1.4 million per day. However, this estimate does not factor in potential disruptions like bad weather, unrest, criminal incidents, or the slower months of January and February in Chicago. Even if each customer were to bet $3,000 daily (which is highly unlikely), the casino would need to attract 9,300 customers each day. Given the limited number of positions available in the casino, this goal is improbable.
A project so big Wall Street is concerned
There are also concerns on Wall Street about the significant challenge of building a casino in downtown Chicago.
In the past, Bally’s has mainly focused on acquiring established gaming properties rather than building new casinos from scratch. However, for this particular project, Bally’s is taking on a significant amount of debt.
Wall Street investors are worried about how a $1.7 billion project will affect the company’s financial stability.
Fitch Ratings and S&P have revised their outlook on Bally’s debt to negative, but if the project is successful, it could bring significant benefits to both Bally’s and the people of Illinois.
