Struggling Illinois Casinos Could Be Allowed to Relocate Should Bill Become Law
Posted on: May 30, 2025, 12:11h.
Last updated on: May 30, 2025, 12:34h.
- Certain casinos in Illinois could soon qualify to relocate
- Illinois’ gaming industry is dominated by a handful of casinos
- The number of Illinois casinos expanded to 17 last year
Illinois is among the richest gaming states, with gamblers in the Land of Lincoln losing more than $2.9 billion last year to casino slots, table games, video gaming terminals, and oddsmakers.
While Illinois’ casino market is flourishing — today home to 17 physical gaming floors — not all properties are reaping the same benefits.
“It’s been clear for years that there’s a handful of casinos that do better than others,” Illinois Rep. Joe Sosnowski (D-Winnebago) told WIFR.
On Thursday, Sosnowski introduced House Bill 4070. The legislation seeks to require that the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) conduct a survey to identify the operational successes and failures of each casino license and determine possible locations where struggling licensees might relocate. The statute would allow up to three casinos to move to a new area.
The [Illinois] gaming industry supports almost 30,000 jobs and nearly $2 billion in tax revenue that funds vital state and local services,” Sosnowski added in a release. “We must have the adaptability in state law to allow a struggling casino to relocate to another market within the state where they have a better prospect for success rather than continue to languish with no remedy. My proposal would ensure the ability of every Illinois casino to thrive.”
Along with the 17 brick-and-mortar and riverboat casinos, Illinois is home to 9,000 video gaming locations that offer slot-like VGTs and 14 retail sportsbooks. Sports betting is also allowed online through 10 operational sportsbook platforms.
Which Illinois Casinos are Laboring?
Of the 16 Illinois casinos that operated throughout 2024 (Wind Creek Chicago Southland only opened on Nov. 11, 2024), the three properties that generated the least amount of gaming revenue (GGR) were Golden Nugget Danville, Agrosy Alton, and Walker’s Bluff in Carterville. The casinos respectively generated slot and table game revenue of $37.1 million, $34 million, and $32 million.
Rivers Des Plaines was by far and away the top Illinois casino in terms of GGR at $516.1 million. Grand Victoria in Elgin was a distant second at $138.8 million. Rounding out the top five were the temporary downtown Bally’s Chicago casino at $124.9 million, Harrah’s Joliet at $124.6 million, and American Place at $108.1 million.
Sosnowski’s bill would task state gaming regulators with measuring “each operating casino license in the State regarding the adjusted gross receipts reported to the Board for the most recently concluded 12-month period.”
With Walker’s Bluff only opening in August 2023, and the casino on the site of a resort that includes a winery, operator Boyd Gaming is unlikely to seek a new location for its Illinois casino license. That would possibly bring Harrah’s Metropolis, with 2024 GGR of $58 million, into consideration. Golden Nugget might also be uninterested in relocating, as it only opened its Danville facility in May 2023.
Once the IGB’s survey is finished and made public, the regulatory board would establish a request for proposals from counties and municipalities interested in welcoming a casino.
Community Protections
Since allowing a casino and the jobs and tax revenue they support and generate to skip town for a more favorable environment is expected to be met with local opposition, Sosnowski has included a provision that would require the IGB to make impacted municipalities more than whole. HB4070 would mandate that a town that loses a casino receive a “doubled share of tax” compared with what it received in the year before the gaming facility relocated.
The municipality or county that loses a casino would receive a share of receipts equal to two times what they are currently paid, in recognition of how integral gaming revenue is to a local government’s ability to provide critical services to residents,” Sosnowski’s office explained.
HB4070 has been directed to the House Rules Committee for initial consideration.
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