A City Council majority on Wednesday accused Bally’s of using the ongoing battle over video gambling terminals in Chicago as an excuse to slow down construction of a $1.7 billion casino and entertainment complex in River West that they contend Bally’s can no longer afford to build.
The letter to Bally’s was signed by 28 members of the renegade coalition that rejected Mayor Brandon Johnson’s corporate head tax and muscled through an alternative 2026 budget. That spending plan lifted the Chicago ban on video gambling and assumed the city would generate $6.8 million by licensing newly legalized video gambling terminals.
It claims the company’s unilateral decision to pause construction of “all non-gaming elements” of the casino complex — including the hotel, event center and some restaurants — is a violation of the company’s host agreement with the city.
