“Extending the deadline for interested bidders will allow the City to collect as many robust, impactful and transformative proposals as possible,” Lightfoot said in a statement. “I look forward to seeing these bids roll in and working very closely with whichever team is ultimately chosen to develop Chicago’s first-ever casino.”

Some big casino operators, like MGM, have announced they would not bid. Local companies Related Midwest and Rush Street Gaming have expressed interest in a potential casino, which could raise politically uncomfortable questions if they’re chosen due to Lightfoot’s long friendship with Rush Street Gaming Chairman Neil Bluhm’s daughter, Leslie, who has given more than $100,000 to Lightfoot’s political funds.

Rush Street Gaming owns Rivers Casino in Des Plaines in partnership with Churchill Downs.
Revenue from a Chicago casino is considered a key to the $45 billion capital bill passed by legislators in 2019. City officials also hope to use revenues to help plug future budget shortfalls as pension costs increase.

A Chicago casino study in summer 2019 pointed to the merits of a downtown location close to hotels and other attractions, instead of in outlying neighborhoods that out-of-towners with money to spend might deem unsafe.

But backing a mega-casino and entertainment complex in the touristy part of the city would be particularly tricky for Lightfoot, who ran for mayor promising to turn City Hall’s focus to helping struggling Chicagoans after her predecessor, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, was seen as favoring the wealthier parts of town.

The same study that pointed to the advantage of a downtown location also argued that the project could fail to attract developers because the original tax structure lawmakers approved was “very onerous” and would have left razor-thin profit margins for the potential owner.

Lightfoot heavily lobbied lawmakers to fix the tax structure, which they ultimately did during their pandemic-shortened session last year, handing the mayor one of her biggest victories in Springfield since taking office.

Despite its big tourism draw, Chicago has been viewed skeptically by the casino industry, in part because of the possible tax burden. Casinos are also facing new competition from the legalization of video gaming and sports betting in Illinois. Yet the state’s existing casinos, which also include those in Elgin and Aurora, brought in more than $120 million in total gross receipts in July — outpacing the take during the same month in 2019, pre-pandemic — and still more new casinos are planned.

State regulators have given preliminary approval for gambling halls in Rockford and Williamson County in southern Illinois. The Illinois Gaming Board is working with a consultant to review the applications for two others in Waukegan and the south suburbs. An application for a sixth new casino in Danville also is under review.

By Gregory Pratt and Dan Petrella