Casinos in Illinois finally appear to be recovering from the pandemic and the numbers speak for themselves. In 2019, the Illinois Gaming Board listed that the gross gaming revenue from the state’s 10 casinos stood at $778 million. At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, casinos in the state were forced to remain closed starting from March 16th to June 30th.
This closure period caused the revenue to drop by as much as 55%. In 2020, casinos in the state generated close to $333 million. This revenue number increased slightly in 2021. However, the state was still dealing with various pandemic restrictions.
As a result, the revenue in 2021 came in at slightly under $650 million, which was an increase of more than 90% compared to 2020. This year through July, the performance is much better as casinos generated revenue of just over $773 million from the 11 casinos that exist in the state.
This June, the fiscal year for the state concluded and successfully set an all-time record. The state gaming revenue reached close to $1.9 billion, easily exceeding the state’s previous best performance of $1.4 billion, which was generated in 2019. In its second full year, the sports betting market generated $611 million, which is a testament to the high demand that exists in the state.
Meanwhile, Penn Entertainment also recently announced its intention to relocate its casinos in Aurora and Joliet from its riverboat locations to brand-new land-based facilities. Since the change in the law to allow land-based casino relocation in the state, the 2 popular casinos have been exploring the viability of relocating their aging riverboats casinos.
Thanks to the overwhelming support that the 2 casino brands have received from administrators and the local communities, the 2 facilities are expected to start moving forward with the relocation projects.
Penn is expected to construct a new Aurora Casino and hotel to be located next to the Chicago Premium Outlets mall next to Exit 119 off I-88. The casino facility expects to start construction on this new site in late 2023, pending regulatory approval. This project is going to cost approximately $360 million and will see the addition of close to 900 slots, 500 table games, a hotel room with 200 rooms, and a massive event and conference center.
The new Joliet facility, on the other hand, is expected to cost approximately $185 million. This new Joliet casino will be located at the Rock Run Crossings development situated at the I-80 and I-55 interchange. This new Joliet casino will also commence construction in 2013 pending regulatory approval from the city.
What we cover
iGaming could also soon come to Illinois punters
All across the country, politicians are racing to legalize their sports betting markets. Since the Supreme Court struck down PASPA in 2018, more than half the states in the country have welcome sports betting with at least 21 states making it legal to place sports bets online. But politicians across the country, including in Illinois, still remain divided as far as legal iGaming is concerned.
The good news though is that iGaming could soon become legal in Illinois if everything goes according to plan. Based on the recently concluded East Coast Gaming Congress Conference, 3 states in the Midwest including Illinois could be among the next few states to legalize online casino gambling.
As mentioned above, so far, online sportsbooks are allowed in 21 states and Washington DC. 3 more states are also expected to legalize their sports betting markets before the end of the year. Maryland is already offering retail sports betting and is expected to offer online sports betting. Ohio and Massachusetts, on the other hand, will also be debuting new forms of sports betting in the coming months.
But legal online betting is only permitted in 6 states namely Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Michigan, and Delaware. If the predictions made at the East Coast Gaming Congress conference come true, Iowa, Indiana, New York, along with Illinois could be the newest states to add iGaming to their gambling portfolio.
The most convincing case for legislators in the various states to legalize iGaming is the additional revenue online casinos stand to bring to the states. For instance, Illinois has already generated approximately $63 million in tax revenue in the first 7 months of this year from sports bets.
As far as online casinos are concerned, Michigan casinos have managed to generate close to $2 billion from online gambling since the state debuted its market in January 2021. Even Connecticut, whose population is not as large, has also managed to generate profits worth almost $200 million since October 2021. With some states already having the betting infrastructure in place, online casino expansion could happen faster than sports betting legalization in some instances.
When legalized, Illinois will have to work hard to play catch up with some of the other states already offering iGaming. Based on records from the American Gambling Association, online casinos in New Jersey have already managed to take in $4.79 billion over the last 9 years. Pennsylvania, which debuted its market in July 2019, has so far yielded approximately $2.47 billion.
It is these types of revenue numbers discussed above that cause regulators to swoon. That’s because the state is always looking for additional means to generate much-needed funds. The good news is that legislators in the state have already witnessed first-hand how much revenue a legal betting market is capable of generating. The state has already demonstrated its willingness to move away from the traditional horse tracks and brick-and-mortar casinos when it finally allowed remote registration of new bettors.
Final Thoughts
The main challenge now remains to see whether the administrators will push for the legalization of iGaming with as much zeal as they did the legalization of sports betting. The state is already occupied with its efforts to set up several more physical casinos all across Chicago. Bally’s has already won the council’s approval to set up a facility worth $1.7-billion in River West.
