Sometimes a story triggers a moment of insight, a glimpse into the future. That happened to me this week when Illinois reported casino revenue for August. Revenue was up 24 percent to $174.0 million in August and 1,434,928 people were admitted to the casinos, a 31 percent increase over 2024. Those increases are by far the largest in the nation, off the chart under normal circumstances. What is going on in Illinois?
The simple answer to the question is more casinos. In 2024, there were 15 casinos reporting revenue in Illinois and 17 in August 2025. One casino, Hollywood Joliet, moved into its permanent quarters on August 10. It was one of the state’s original riverboats, but legislation passed in 2019 allowed riverboats to become land-based casinos. Last year on the boat, Hollywood generated $7.6 million in GGR and had 58,095 visitors. In three weeks on terra firma, Hollywood generated $11.1 million in revenue and had 121, 276 admissions. This year, Hollywood Joliet was 5th overall in admissions; last year it was 10th. It seems moving to land was a good idea.
New for August was also Wind Creek Chicago Southland. It opened in November 2024 and was the 16th and final license granted by the state under the 2019 expansion legislation. Wind Creek is owned and operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians in Alabama; the tribal business has 10 operations in Alabama, Illinois, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and the Caribbean. In August, Wind Creek reported $17.0 million in GGR and 177,316 visitors, second only to Rivers. Rivers Casino in Des Plaines reported $41.8 million in revenue and 264,718 admissions.
Rivers owns the market. The original license was awarded to Midwest Gaming in 2008 and the casino opened in July 2011. It was sold in 2019 to Churchill Downs. Rivers was awarded the 10th and final license of the original legislation. It was also awarded the first land-based license in 2019 and that may be part of the secret of its market share. There is one additional operation, a racino called Fairmount Park. It only got 20,000 visitors and $1.5 million in revenue, Fairmount Park hardly matters in the big picture. So there you have it, 16 casinos rocking the Midwestern boat in Illinois.
That is not the end of this story. Casino gaming is only part of the picture in the Land of Lincoln. The other parts are the video lottery terminals located in a variety of social and retail locations and sports betting. VLTs and sports have not yet reported, so it is necessary to estimate the revenues to complete the August picture. In July, 49,000 VLTs in Illinois generated $282.6 million. It is safe to assume that in August, there will be more VLTs and revenue is likely to be about $290 million. Combining casinos and VLTs, there would be $465 million gaming revenue in Illinois for August. Both New Jersey and Pennsylvania will report more. But wait, that’s not all.
Sports betting for August will not be reported until the second week in October. Illinois has been reporting the second-highest handle and win; only New York gamblers bet and lose more. For August, New York reported $2.0 billion in wagers and $178.2 million in GGR. Illinois will probably report $1 billion in handle and $120 million in win. Including that estimate, total GGR would be $584 million for the month. New Jersey and Pennsylvania do not report until the 15th and 16th of the month, but using July as a guide, their GGR will come in between $550 and $600 million.
That is the lay of the land in August 2025. But if Illinois had igaming, as New Jersey and Pennsylvania do, the landscape would change dramatically. Igaming in Illinois would be a factor of population size, as it is with mobile sports betting in every state. In Illinois, igaming could generate between $300 million and $400 million and that would make Illinois second only to Nevada in total revenue. Given the history of gaming expansion in Illinois, the odds favor legalization of igaming within the next five years. All that is required is a governor with aggressive plans or a recession.
Who would have thought in 1990, when the Illinois Legislature passed the Riverboat Gambling Act, that it would be just a few years and five or six legislative steps before the Land of Lincoln was vying with Nevada for the crown of the capital of gambling? The casino revenue report in August 2025 gave us a hint of that future.
