{"id":81640,"date":"2025-07-21T21:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T21:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/81640\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T21:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T21:39:10","slug":"gambling-machines-in-chicago-bars-airports-aldermen-weigh-revenue-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/81640\/","title":{"rendered":"Gambling machines in Chicago bars, airports? Aldermen weigh revenue potential"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gambling could soon come to Chicago\u2019s neighborhood bars or international airports as aldermen eye legalizing video gambling machines as a way to add tax revenue.<\/p>\n

If Ald. William Hall gets his way, the gambling machines will be broadly legalized across the city next year, popping up in places like bars and restaurants to help address the city\u2019s budget woes.<\/p>\n

But the freshman alderman\u2019s push for widespread legalization faces two challenges: a competing ordinance to legalize the machines only at the city\u2019s airports and apprehension from Mayor Brandon Johnson\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n

Johnson\u2019s top finance leaders shared with aldermen a study analyzing how legalizing the machines would affect city finances Monday during a Revenue Subcommittee meeting. Under the state\u2019s current tax structure, the payout would be underwhelming, Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t expect it to make a big impact,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe we make $10 million one year and lose $5 million another.\u201d<\/p>\n

The study by gambling consultant firm Christiansen Capitol Advisors, LLC determined legalization would likely neither make nor cost the city money. While the machines would generate tax revenue, legalizing them would take business away from slot machines at Bally\u2019s Casino.<\/p>\n

That would mean a likely end to Bally\u2019s annual $4 million payments to the city, as many as 400 lost jobs at the casino and less slot machine revenue, Christiansen consultant Sebastian Sinclair said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you take all of that into consideration, you end up just slightly positive on what the city collects, to just slightly negative,\u201d Sinclair said.<\/p>\n

Even though slot machines and gambling machines are \u201cclose substitutes,\u201d Chicago would collect just 5.15% from video gambling machine terminal revenue, far below the around 20% it collects from slot machine revenue, Sinclair added.<\/p>\n

Jaworski hinted that Chicago should push for a greater share, noting legalization in the city is \u201chighly in the state\u2019s interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we had a different percentage\u2026 then we\u2019re going to see we are making more money,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The argument has raged for years in Chicago about whether legalizing more decentralized gambling<\/a> would help the city\u2019s bottom line or simply cannibalize tax revenue that would otherwise come in from the casino.<\/p>\n

\"Ald.Ald. William Hall, 6th, greets people, June 23, 2025, at the City Club. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Aldermen clamored for more answers on the negotiations and how a larger share would impact Chicago, but grew frustrated as they got few clear responses.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to talk about revenue, and you guys don\u2019t have numbers. This is crazy,\u201d said Ald. Jason Ervin, Johnson\u2019s handpicked Budget Committee chair. \u201cWe\u2019ve got to figure out a way to make this work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if the mayor is negotiating the tax split with state leaders, Johnson spokesperson Cassio Mendoza said the mayor\u2019s team \u201cwill continue to engage with stakeholders in both the City Council and the state legislature\u201d on the subject, but did not directly answer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Mayor\u2019s office welcomes their ideas and feedback, including any related to taxing structures or other considerations,\u201d Mendoza wrote.<\/p>\n

Aldermen also acknowledged that, whether they like it or not, gambling machines are already in their neighborhoods\u2019 bars, restaurants and gas stations via so-called \u201csweepstakes\u201d machines, the slots-like terminals that operate in a legal gray area by offering non-cash payouts.<\/p>\n

If the city legalizes video gambling terminals, it could also outlaw those machines, Ald. Felix Cardon, 31st, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re losing a lot of money off sweepstakes and I think we as a council should look at drafting an ordinance on that,\u201d Cardona said.<\/p>\n

Compared to the tepid estimates from Johnson\u2019s team, Hall last week shared a far rosier financial prediction on what video gambling machines would add. Legalization could bring in as much as $48 million in tax revenue, plus another $291 million for the state, he said.<\/p>\n

The measure \u2014 championed by the Hospitality Business Association of Chicago, a lobbying arm for bars and restaurants \u2014 would also help struggling local businesses make more money, added Hall, who chairs the Revenue Subcommittee.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can we walk away from that type of money,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to Trump-proof our state, and right now we are playing a dangerous game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ald. Gilbert Villegas, 36th, proposed a more limited legalization push that would only allow video gambling terminals at O\u2019Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport. He described his ordinance Monday as the \u201clow-hanging fruit\u201d amid the thornier citywide discussions and said it would not impact casino revenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a billion dollar solution, but it\u2019s moving in the right direction,\u201d Villegas said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about the majority of the money being generated by people who are from outside the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aldermen also discussed during the Monday meeting other generating ideas, including expanding where rideshare users face added per-trip fees and hiking the city\u2019s liquor tax.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: July 21, 2025 at 3:30 PM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gambling could soon come to Chicago\u2019s neighborhood bars or international airports as aldermen eye legalizing video gambling machines…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":81641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5404,5386,1818,1370,728,50,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-81640","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-cook-county","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-politics"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114893394414951851","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}