Bally’s Rattled as Chicago VGT Proposal Gathers Pace
Posted on: December 18, 2025, 03:19h.
Last updated on: December 18, 2025, 03:19h.
- Bally’s says VGT legalization would cut casino revenue and jobs.
- Aldermen push VGT fees and taxes to plug 2026 budget gaps.
- City weighs casino deal protections against broader gaming tax revenue.
Bally’s has taken a swipe at cash-strapped Chicago city officials as momentum builds behind a plan to legalize video gaming terminals (VGTs).
The operator, which is building a $2 billion casino resort in the River West neighborhood, warned city aldermen backing a bid to raise revenues through legalizing and taxing the terminals that the proposal would be self-defeating.
VGTs – slot-style machines found in bars, restaurants, and liquor-licensed venues elsewhere in Illinois – are not authorized in Chicago. They became legal in Illinois in 2009 and are today the state’s largest source of gaming tax revenue. But Chicago opted out because it wanted tighter control over gambling.
Bargaining Chip
The ban later became a bargaining chip as the city pursued a land-based casino market, luring operators like Bally’s with the promise of no VGT competition inside the city limits.
However, Bally’s casino at Medinah Temple, which operates as a temporary gaming facility while the main resort is being built, has underperformed, leading some aldermen to consider the VGT option.
To incorporate [currently] unregulated, independently managed VGTs as a budget line item will result in a loss of substantial new revenue for the city and will create significant job losses at the Bally’s Chicago Casino,” Bally’s Vice President for Government Relations Elizabeth Suever said in a prepared statement shared with Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee Tuesday.
“Even if this proposal were to pass as is, it would generate $0 revenue in FY 2026 for the city,” she added.
Suever was referencing a city ordinance cracking down on sweepstakes machines, introduced last week by Alderman William Hall. These machines exist in a grey area of the law, in part because they are marketed as promotional sweepstakes rather than gambling devices.
Hall has been clear that the proposal is about cracking down on gray-market gambling to pave the way for a regulated VGT market.
Alternative Budget
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is against legalizing VGTs because he argues they would not generate meaningful net revenue. His budget plan proposes raising corporation tax as a means to boost city coffers. But an alternative plan, backed by 27 of Chicago’s 50 aldermen, supports VGTs.
Bally’s says this would force it to revisit the Host Community Agreement (HCA) which guarantees it exclusive rights to major forms of gambling in Chicago in return for paying the city $4 million per year.
But the alderpeople have done the math. The alternative budget calculates that even without the payment, the city would be $6.8 million better off from licensing fees alone – that’s before you calculate future tax revenues.
Bally’s has previously estimated that such a move could result in a reduction in the jobs the completed casino is expected to create – from 3,000 to between 750 and 1,050. The also claims it would cost Chicago $70 million in tax revenue annually.
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