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Bally’s has offered Chicago a different gambling revenue path: slot machine lounges at O’Hare and Midway airports instead of wider video gambling terminal access across the city.
Good to know
- Bally’s says airport slot lounges could bring about $5 million in gaming and admission taxes.
- Chicago 2026 budget counts on $6.8 million from newly legalized video gambling terminals.
- Bally’s warns VGT expansion could cut casino revenue by $74 million a year and cost up to 1,050 jobs.
Airport Gaming Enters Chicago Revenue Debate
The idea came during a City Council Workforce Development Committee hearing about repealing the ordinance that legalized VGTs as part of Chicago 2026 budget plan.
Christopher Jewett, Senior Vice President for Corporate Development at Bally’s, said O’Hare could support one lounge in each of its four passenger terminals, while Midway could host one lounge.
“We believe one lounge can generate approximately $5 million in actual gaming and admission taxes, which go directly to the city,” Jewett told the committee, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. “This alone can replace the revenue in question.”
Chicago budget writers expect $6.8 million from VGT licensing. That figure assumes around 80% of 3,300 eligible businesses apply and that Illinois Gaming Board approvals take six to eight months.
Alderman Anthony Beale pushed back on the airport plan. He said airport gaming money would have to stay in the enterprise fund for airport operations rather than go into the general budget. Beale also questioned why Bally’s had not used airport gaming powers already approved by the Illinois General Assembly.
Bally’s Says VGTs Threaten Casino Deal
The wider fight centers on the host agreement behind Bally’s temporary casino and planned permanent casino entertainment complex in River West. Mayor Brandon Johnson opposes VGT expansion and has argued that it could conflict with the agreement.
Bally’s says citywide VGT growth could reduce casino revenue by $74 million each year and eliminate as many as 1,050 jobs across temporary and permanent casino operations. The company also says VGT legalization could force talks over parts of the host agreement, remove a yearly $4 million Bally’s payment, and lower casino funding set aside for police and fire pension funds.
Jewett said Bally’s made its commitments based on Chicago keeping its long running ban on video gambling terminals.
“Had we known that, within just a few years, this body would reverse course and allow an alternative form of gambling that breaches the agreement, we would never agree to the numerous commitments, all of which we’ve held up,” he said.
Council tensions rose further when Beale and Ivan Capifali, Commissioner of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, clashed over sweepstakes gaming machines.
Capifali refused to discuss the machines at the hearing, saying, “I am not going into gambling policy debates with you or anybody in this forum.”
Beale then called for Capifali to resign, accusing him of failing to deal with the issue.
Alderman Debra Silverstein, Chair of the License Committee, also objected to the process. She said any repeal of the VGT ordinance should go through her committee, since it approved the measure first.
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