Chicago’s high-stakes bet that a casino could ease its financial crunch has yet to pay off, according to a new report presented to a City Council committee Friday.
Sixteen months after opening a temporary casino at River North’s Medinah Temple, Bally’s casino has rung up just $63.2 million in new tax revenue for the city, Chief Financial Officer Jill Jaworski told the City Council’s Contracting and Oversight Equity Committee.
Nearly 70% of those revenues came from the $44 million in flat fees Bally’s agreed to pay in 2023 and 2024 as part of the deal approved by the City Council in December 2022 that ended a 30-year effort to bring casino gambling to Chicago…