hopes to open a temporary casino in Chicago’s Medinah Temple in 2023, with its $1.7 billion permanent complex on the site of the Tribune’s newsroom and printing plant in River North by 2025. Slot machines also will be allowed at O’Hare International and Midway airports.
The Aurora casino would leave its downtown location to move next to the Chicago Premium Outlets mall on I-88. The city would provide theIn Joliet, the $185 million new building would be located in the Rock Run Crossings mixed-use project near I-80 and I-55. While casino receipts shot up 46%, the total remained below pre-pandemic levels and continued a 20% downward trend sincewas legalized a decade ago in bars, restaurants and gas stations across the state. Chicago, though, has not legalized video gambling, instead preserving its market to become the largest American city with a casino. Despite the expansion, the state predicts tax revenue growth from casinos, due to a lowered tax rate and market saturation, will be “modest at best.
The gaming association had opposed casino expansion, arguing that the market was already saturated. Now that expansion is here, operators are making moves to increase traffic and improve amenities to compete. Thanas also predicted that the modern casinos will try to incorporate new technology, such as contactless cashless betting, in which players could bet with their phones and keep their accounts online.