New casino openings for Bally’s Chicago and Hollywood Aurora set to change gambling landscape in 2026

As construction on the 34-story Bally’s Chicago hotel steadily rises skyward over the Ohio feeder ramp, things are looking up for the region’s casinos in 2026 amid a building boom that is reshaping the gambling landscape.

Chicago-area casinos are coming off a big year in 2025, as three new facilities boosted revenue and brought millions of additional players to the tables and slot machines.

It may be a whole new game in 2026, with the $1.7 billion Bally’s Chicago casino complex and a new land-based Hollywood Casino Aurora set to open. Several other casinos are putting shovels in the ground along both sides of the Wisconsin border for future development projects.

The state’s 17 casinos generated more than $1.9 billion in adjusted gross receipts in 2025, a 15% year-over-year gain, while admissions were up nearly 20% to more than 15.5 million visitors, according to data published Friday by the Illinois Gaming Board.

New casinos at Wind Creek Chicago Southland, Hard Rock Rockford and a new land-based Hollywood Casino Joliet all contributed to robust gains in 2025, which also saw the opening of the first Illinois racino at the downstate Fairmount Park horse racing track in April.

The building boom was created by Illinois’ sweeping 2019 gambling expansion bill, which added everything from six new casinos and land-based gaming to sports betting.

Rivers Casino Des Plaines remained the state’s busiest gambling palace last year with $503 million in adjusted gross receipts and nearly 3 million visitors, but the new venues are rapidly gaining ground.

Wind Creek, a 70,000-square-foot casino and adjacent hotel in south suburban East Hazel Crest, completed its first full year as the second busiest casino in Illinois, generating nearly $198 million in revenue and more than 2.1 million admissions in 2025.

Hard Rock Casino Rockford, which moved from a temporary facility to a $300 million permanent casino in late 2024, ranked third in the state and grew revenue by nearly 50% to more than $146 million, welcoming 1.4 million visitors, according to Gaming Board data.

Grand Victoria in Elgin, Bally’s Chicago and American Place in Waukegan rounded out the top of the leaderboard for 2025, but the rankings could change dramatically as new facilities begin to come online this year.

Topping the list is the planned fourth quarter opening of the permanent Bally’s Chicago facility, a $1.7 billion casino, hotel and entertainment complex rising up on the 30-acre former site of the Tribune’s Freedom Center printing plant in River West.

Selected by the city in 2022, Rhode Island-based Bally’s is building an entertainment complex that includes an exhibition hall, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions, making it the state’s largest casino.

In 2024, Bally’s had to relocate the prominent hotel tower under construction south of the casino after it was determined that driving caissons into the ground might damage municipal water management infrastructure pipes along the Chicago River.

The permanent casino site, currently a sea of towering cranes and rising steel frames, remains on target for a fourth quarter opening, a Bally’s spokesperson said this week.

Bally’s has been operating in a smaller temporary casino at Medinah Temple in River North since September 2023, with revenue falling far short of projections. Last year, Bally’s ranked fifth in the state and was roughly flat with nearly $125 million in adjusted gross receipts and 1.3 million visitors, according to Gaming Board data.

While the expansive new casino is expected to boost revenue and admissions, Bally’s has another incentive to vacate its current home at Medinah Temple, with its three-year temporary license — two years plus a 12-month extension — set to expire in September.

“In Bally’s Chicago’s case, Bally’s requested and received the 12-month extension, so under current law it must cease operations in its temporary facility in September,” said Gaming Board spokesperson Beth Kaufman. “Legislative action is required to allow for another extension.”

A more imminent casino opening is coming for one of the state’s original riverboats.

Hollywood Casino Aurora is planning to move into its new $360 million land-based facility near I-88 and Chicago Premium Outlets mall “late in the first half” of 2026, a casino spokesperson said. The exterior is completed and work is underway on the interior of the complex, which will include 1,200 gaming positions, a 220-room hotel, a retail sportsbook, a spa, a 12,000-square-foot event center and a food hall.

The co-owned Hollywood Casino Joliet launched its new $185 million land-based casino in August with similar amenities, and saw significant gains in revenue and admissions during the fourth quarter. In December, the casino ranked fifth in the state with more than $11 million in adjusted gross receipts, up 47.5% year-over-year, according to Gaming Board data.

Meanwhile in Waukegan, the permanent $500 million American Place Casino, delayed by a lawsuit, the governmental approval process and financing issues, is expected to finally break ground in the first quarter, according to Alex Stolyar, senior vice president and chief development officer of casino owner Full House Resorts.

American Place, which ranked sixth last year with nearly $122 million in adjusted gross receipts, has been operating out of a temporary facility since February 2023, but plans for the permanent casino were put on hold as a lawsuit challenging the licensing process, brought by Potawatomi Casino against Waukegan and the Illinois Gaming Board, worked its way through the courts

In January 2025, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled unanimously in favor of the decision to award Full House the casino license, restarting the development process. The Waukegan City Council approved a revised site plan in September, but groundbreaking has been delayed as Full House seeks to line up the remaining $302 million needed to complete the permanent facility, Stolyar told the Tribune.

“We’re finalizing the financing,” Stolyar said. “We’re looking at different options, and just want to make sure we make the best financial decision for the company and for our shareholders.”

Granted an 18-month legislative extension because of the litigation, American Place is planning to open the permanent casino by the August 2027 expiration of the temporary license. The new facility will have 1,200 slot machines, more than 60 table games, restaurants, a sportsbook and other amenities, while the temporary casino will be repurposed as an event venue, Stolyar said.

A separately financed boutique hotel and a second phase hotel tower are also in the works.

Getting construction started is job one, but down the road, Stolyar expects the permanent Waukegan casino to become a major player in the Chicago area.

“We’re expecting a significant boost over our current operations,” Stolyar said.

That certainly was the case for Hard Rock Casino Rockford, which opened its $300 million permanent casino in August 2024 after nearly three years in temporary digs. The casino, on the site of the former Clock Tower Resort off Interstate Highway 90, includes nearly 1,300 slot machines, 50 live table games, a sportsbook and a 2,100-seat concert venue.

Last year, Hard Rock Rockford jumped from seventh to third in the state in gambling revenue, and also proved a strong entertainment draw, with more than 70 ticketed shows spanning everything from comedy to music to mixed martial arts.

Not surprisingly, a diverse lineup that ran the gamut from Larry the Cable Guy to Air Supply had some hits and misses, Geno Iafrate, president of Hard Rock Casino Rockford, told the Tribune.

“The first full year was really about trying a whole bunch of different types of shows, figuring out what the market wants,” Iafrate said. “We’re happy with our entertainment venue, but we need to refine that strategy going into 2026.”

Beyond tweaking its entertainment offerings, Hard Rock is also exploring the addition of a hotel and other amenities to defend its turf against the Ho-Chunk Nation, which is building a $405 million casino complex 18 miles away in Beloit, Wisconsin.

Ho-Chunk is expected to open a 240,000-square-foot casino this summer. The second phase will add a conference center and an 18-story hotel, becoming the tallest building in Beloit, in 2027.

Hard Rock is hoping to stay one step ahead of its new competitor north of the border.

“Future expansion is critical for us, and we are focused on it,” Iafrate said. “We have some grand plans for Hard Rock 2.0 that go well beyond what we currently have today.”

Iafrate said Hard Rock is working with city, county and state officials on the expansion plans, and the casino expects to make some announcements in the near future.

If all goes well, shovels will hit the dirt again this year in Rockford, with a major addition opening up at the nascent permanent casino in 2027, Iafrate said.

“Status quo is not our goal,” Iafrate said.

rchannick@chicagotribune.com