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State of Play’s TL;DR
- PENN Entertainment has opened Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora, a $360 million land-based casino resort in Aurora, IL, replacing its longtime Fox River riverboat property.
- The new property adds a fresh chapter to PENN’s Illinois footprint and comes with a notable sportsbook component, even if this is first and foremost a brick-and-mortar casino story.
Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora is now open in Aurora, IL, as a new 388,500-square-foot facility operated by PENN Entertainment. The company said the project cost $360 million and replaces the former riverboat casino that had operated on the Illinois shores of the Fox River since 1993.
The property includes more than 1,000 slot machines, more than 50 table games, a baccarat room, and a retail sportsbook. Beyond gaming, it features:
- A 226-room hotel
- Dining venues
- A wellness spa
- A 12,000-square-foot event center
- Meeting rooms
- About 1,700 parking spaces
PENN said the venue is open 24/7, 365 days a year.
PENN has invested over $500M in Chicago area
“We are proud to officially welcome guests and players to the exciting, all-new Hollywood Casino and Hotel Aurora,” PENN CEO and President Jay Snowden said. Senior Vice President of Regional Operations Rafael Verde called the launch “an exciting new chapter” for the property and thanked the city of Aurora, the Illinois Gaming Board, and project partners.
PENN also said the Aurora opening, together with its landside move in Joliet last summer, means it has reinvested more than $500 million in the Chicagoland market over the last three years.
PENN said the property employs roughly 700 team members and supported about 700 construction jobs, while the Illinois Gaming Board was among the public entities referenced at launch. In a mature casino state like Illinois, that combination of capital spending, jobs, and regulator involvement is usually what separates a routine refresh from a market-shaping project.
Based on reporting by Hotel Online.
