Chicago City Council Pushes Video Gambling Despite Warnings

Chicago City Council’s license committee voted Monday to push forward a video gambling measure that could undermine the city’s own casino before it even opens, brushing aside warnings from Bally’s Corp. and city finance officials that the move will cost Chicago millions.

The License and Consumer Protection Committee directed the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection to start processing city license applications from bars and restaurants seeking to offer video poker and slots, even while state gambling regulators are still handling their own approval process. The measure now heads to a full council vote Wednesday.

One vote against. That’s the margin of dissent Ald. Brendan Reilly of the 42nd Ward managed to register.

The political stakes are steep. Elizabeth Suever, vice president of government relations at Bally’s Corp., told the committee directly that approving video gaming terminals across Chicago’s bars and restaurants “will necessitate the renegotiation of the existing host community agreement between Bally’s and the city, putting in jeopardy $4 million worth of yearly payments.” Suever’s warning was the bluntest the company has delivered yet, and the committee advanced the measure anyway.

Bally’s permanent casino is scheduled to open later this year in River West. The city has spent years building toward that moment. Now, the council appears ready to kneecap the project before its first slot machine pays out.

The city’s own finance team is raising alarms. Officials said a consultant’s study found that legalizing video poker and slots at neighborhood bars and restaurants will actually cost Chicago $3 million this year and result in the elimination of nearly 400 casino jobs. The city’s 2026 budget counted on $6.8 million in revenue from video gambling. The math on that is now in serious question.

Still, the committee moved ahead.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has opposed the move. His allies have argued that spreading video poker machines through bars across neighborhoods like Pilsen, Austin, and Roseland will increase gambling addiction among residents who can least afford it. That’s not a new concern. Critics of video gambling terminal expansion have made similar arguments in cities across Illinois, where the machines have proliferated in gas stations and taverns since the state authorized them in 2009.

The council fight is a direct consequence of the city’s 2026 budget battle. Video gambling was authorized as part of that spending plan, which took effect over Johnson’s objections. It was a concession Johnson couldn’t stop, baked into a budget he didn’t fully control. Now the council is moving to implement it at full speed, and the mayor’s office is watching a potential $4 million annual payment from Bally’s slide toward renegotiation.

The thing is, two alderpeople can still block Wednesday’s vote under council rules. Whether any will is unclear.

Chicago’s casino project has already been years in the making. The permanent River West facility was meant to be a revenue anchor for a city that has struggled with structural budget gaps and chronic underfunding of city services. Bally’s was supposed to deliver stable, long-term payments through its host community agreement. That agreement is now on the table, according to the company’s own government relations team.

As first reported by WTTW News, the committee vote Monday came after Suever’s warning and despite the finance team’s projections showing a net loss this year.

The council has heard the warnings. Finance officials laid out the numbers. Bally’s made clear what’s at risk. Reilly voted no. Everyone else on the committee voted yes.

What happens Wednesday is the question. If the full council approves the measure, the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection starts processing applications immediately, and the city locks itself into a course that its own consultants say will cost money and jobs in the short term. If two alderpeople hold back a vote, the measure stalls, at least briefly, and Johnson’s office gets more room to push back.

For now, the momentum is firmly toward approval. The bars and restaurants pushing for video gambling licenses have allies on the council and a budget line that gives them political cover. The casino that hasn’t opened yet has a contract and a consultant’s report.

Neither has been enough to slow this down.