Bally’s Warns Chicago: VGTs Will Cost Thousands of Casino Jobs, Millions in Tax Revenue

Posted on: June 25, 2026, 07:58h. 

Last updated on: June 25, 2026, 07:58h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • Bally’s Corporation is threatening legal action against Chicago, arguing that the approval of thousands of slot-like video gaming terminals undermines the exclusivity it was promised when it agreed to build a $1.7 billion casino
  • Bally’s executives say the casino’s bid and host agreement would have been structured differently had they known VGTs would be allowed citywide
  • Bally’s contends that widespread VGT expansion could jeopardize casino jobs and tax revenue, while proposing alternatives such as allowing the company to operate slot machines at Chicago’s airports

Bally’s Corporation is threatening to sue the City of Chicago over its authorization of slot-like video gaming terminals (VGTs).

Bally's Chicago casino video gaming terminals VGT
Construction continues at Bally’s Chicago, a $1.7 billion undertaking. Bally’s officials are threatening to sue the city should the council refuse to backtrack on allowing slot-like video gambling terminals. (Image: ResortX.com Construction Board)

Bally’s is building a $1.7 billion casino resort in the city’s River West neighborhood on the former grounds of the Tribune Freedom Center, the longtime publishing plant of the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times.

Officials with the Rhode Island-based casino operator say the company’s 2022 bid for the city’s lone casino license would have looked much different had it known that just years later Chicago would allow thousands of VGTs to be placed inside restaurants and bars.

“Exclusivity was promised,” Christopher Jewett, Bally’s senior vice president of corporate development, told the city’s Workforce Development Committee, which was reviewing a plea from Mayor Brandon Johnson to revoke the 2025 authorization of VGTs.

Jewett said, with the benefit of hindsight, the Host Community Agreement Bally’s signed was a bad deal for the company. Jewett says unless VGTs are annulled, Bally’s is likely to rip up the terms and demand, through legal action, that the agreement be renegotiated. 

Everything on the Table

The Bally’s Host Community Agreement requires the casino to act in good faith in hiring a certain number of minorities, veterans, and disabled persons, and contracting with minority- and women-owned businesses.

“Workplace diversity boosts employee creativity, innovation, decision-making skills, and satisfaction,” the Host Community Agreement says. The agreement also requires that Bally’s “make commercially reasonable efforts” to hire at least 3,000 permanent resort jobs, with most union-represented.

In advocating for a repeal of the VGT ordinance, Jewett cited another condition of the Host Community Agreement that allows the binding contract to be renegotiated if a new casino opens, the state passes a tax increase on casino gambling, or the city authorizes “a mode of lawful gaming to occur in the city” elsewhere than at Bally’s Chicago.

[Exclusivity] drove up our bid. If we had known we wouldn’t have exclusivity, our bid would have been completely different,” Jewett said. “If Chicago’s reputation becomes that a heavily negotiated, legally binding contract is not worth the paper it’s written on, that sends a strong negative message to not trust that Chicago will honor its agreements.”

The Bally’s executive said Chicago is making a risky bet on VGTs by threatening union jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in city tax revenue and community payments.

Supporters say VGTs will help small businesses, and that more local money is needed to address Chicago’s long-running fiscal problems. Financial projections, however, are mixed depending on what assumptions are used regarding increased law enforcement costs.

The City Council’s Office on Financial Analysis projects that the city will receive around $64 million annually from VGTs after nearly 20,000 machines are operational.

Johnson’s team says the benefit will be much smaller due to higher law enforcement costs associated with an increase in 9-1-1 calls related to crime surrounding the VGT machines and their host facilities.

Chicago Airport Slots

During the Wednesday discussion on VGTs, Jewett suggested that if the City Council isn’t willing to backtrack, one solution could be to allow Bally’s to operate slots at the city’s airports.

Jewett said Bally’s would need permission to operate slots in each of O’Hare’s four terminals, with each terminal housing around 100-125 slots.