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Bally’s Chicago has paused construction on nearly all non-gaming amenities at its River West casino complex — including the hotel, events center and several planned restaurants — as it fights the city over the spread of video gambling terminals, or VGTs.
The casino operator says the uncontrolled rollout of VGTs creates harmful uncertainty for the $1.7 billion project and violates the city’s commitment, made under the Host Community Agreement, not to expand gaming within Chicago limits.
Bally’s notified the Chicago Community Builders Collective, the general contracting partnership overseeing construction, of what it called a “reset notice” over the weekend of Aug. 8. The casino itself remains on schedule to open in early 2027 despite the pause in non-gaming work.
Bally’s wants VGT rollout paused outside its casino
In a statement, a Bally’s Chicago spokesperson said the company notified the Chicago Community Builders Collective “that it is resetting the pace of construction of elements of Bally’s Chicago permanent casino.” The statement continued:
“The potential for an uncontrolled proliferation of video gambling terminals (VGTs) is in breach of the City’s commitment not to expand gaming in the Host Community Agreement (HCA) and creates uncertainty that could be harmful for Bally’s Chicago prospects.”
Bally’s Casino said the pause does not affect the casino’s opening timeline and that it intends to fully honor its Host Community Agreement commitments.
“We do not take this lightly because of the potential impact on many of the 1,500 union tradespeople who have been working hard to build Bally’s Chicago,” the statement read. “We will continue to assess our options, which we hope will include more productive discussions with the Mayor’s Office and City Council.”
Though the company stopped short of saying so directly, Bally’s is pressing city officials to halt VGT expansion everywhere in Chicago except at its own casino.
Bally’s and city officials weigh legal options
The pause has put roughly 1,500 union tradespeople on hiatus. Bally’s also intends to withhold a $4 million payment due to the city in September until the VGT dispute is resolved, according to the Chicago Tribune.
At stake is an estimated $200 million in annual local tax revenue the casino is projected to generate — money already earmarked for police and firefighter pensions.
Ald. Raymond Lopez, 15th Ward, sent a letter to city attorneys Aug. 10, arguing that Bally’s does not have the legal right to “intentionally slow down” construction at the River West site, and asking them to determine whether the pause violates the Host Community Agreement — potentially giving the city grounds to terminate it, Block Club Chicago reported. The 15th Ward includes the Englewood, Brighton Park, Back of the Yards, Gage Park, Canaryville and Chicago Lawn neighborhoods.
“It is clear Bally’s Casino seeks to use our agreement and the associated workforce necessary to build out said agreement as leverage in the Video Gaming Terminal (VGT) policy debate that ended last year with the City Council approving VGT terminal licensing and operation within the City of Chicago,” Lopez wrote.
Other aldermen expressed similar frustration. Ald. Walter Burnett, 27th Ward, home to the permanent casino site, told Block Club Chicago he learned of the pause while hosting his ward’s back-to-school picnic and called the situation extremely frustrating.
Joe Ferguson, president of the Civic Federation, questioned the timing of Bally’s move given the project’s history of missed construction deadlines. He argued the city should weigh the revenue the River West casino is projected to generate against the revenue VGTs could bring in citywide, rather than treat the dispute as “petty politics rather than fact-based analysis.”
Bally’s has retained the law firm RFK Global to explore its legal options. The firm employs former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who negotiated the original casino agreement between the city and Bally’s in 2022.
HB 4437 could decide casino’s temporary operating window
Bally’s is also banking on state legislation to buy it more time. HB 4437, introduced by state Rep. Kam Buckner in January, would amend the Illinois Gambling Act to let the Illinois Gaming Board extend Bally’s temporary casino license at Medinah Temple by up to 18 months, plus two additional three-month extensions, while construction at River West continues.
That extension has taken on new urgency: Under state law, Bally’s temporary license to operate at Medinah Temple expires Sept. 9, 2026 — 36 months after it opened — unless the extension is approved. Bally’s has said the bill would provide “operational certainty” and allow the temporary casino to keep operating through September 2027, if needed.
HB 4437 was referred to the Illinois House Rules Committee on Jan. 20, then assigned to the House Gaming Committee on March 4 before being reassigned to the Rules Committee three weeks later. As of Aug. 10, no further action had been taken on the bill, leaving its fate — and the temporary casino’s operating window — unresolved with the September deadline just weeks away, according to WGN-TV.
