Bally’s pushes Medinah temporary casino opening to September
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Anyone who took the over bet on when the Bally’s Chicago temporary casino at Medinah Temple would open is looking like a winner.
The target date, which has already been pushed back several months, is now slated for September, the company said during its second quarter earnings call Thursday.
“Obviously we’re a little delayed from what we communicated to you last time on opening,” Marcus Glover, Bally’s CFO, said during the call.
In June, Bally’s was granted preliminary approval by the Illinois Gaming Board — a precursor to final licensing — and immediately began installing more than 750 slot machines and 50 gaming tables at Medinah Temple. At the time, executives said they expected to have the roughly 1,000 gaming positions in place by the end of the month.
Bally’s executives were hoping to have the dice rolling at Medinah by August, pending a successful test run of gaming operations approved by the board.
“It’s done, all the machines are installed,” Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim told the Tribune Thursday. “We’re in testing and regulatory mode. We’re just waiting to get through the final process so we can share it with the city of Chicago.”
A gaming board spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Rhode Island-based Bally’s won a heated competition last year to build a $1.74 billion casino at the 30-acre site of the Chicago Tribune printing plant in River West. It bought the site for $200 million from Nexstar Media, with plans to open the permanent casino in 2026.
In May, Bally’s announced it would pay Tribune Publishing $150 million to terminate its lease early and vacate on or before July 5, 2024, to enable the construction of the casino complex.
Built by the Shriners in 1912, Medinah Temple will serve as a temporary casino for up to three years. Bally’s has been renovating the historic 130,000-square-foot building since January.
Bally’s put out a help wanted sign in May, looking to hire more than 700 positions — everything from card dealers and security to housekeeping and marketing staff — to staff up the temporary casino.
The start date for launching the temporary facility has been a moving target all year, as it was pushed back incrementally from June to July to August to September. Each month that passes without opening is leaving money on the table for the city and Bally’s.
A signature initiative for former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration, which selected Bally’s Chicago over four competing bids, the casino is projected to generate $805.6 million in annual adjusted gross receipts — the money kept after winnings are paid out — by 2028.
That would create nearly $246 million in annual revenue for the city by year six — assuming the permanent casino opens as scheduled in 2026.
The temporary casino was projected to generate more than $100 million in adjusted gross receipts this year. The city expected to receive nearly $70 million from the casino in 2023, including a one-time $40 million upfront payment from Bally’s.
With the launch pushed back to September, Bally’s is projecting between $15 million and $25 million in earnings for the temporary casino this year, according to Thursday’s investor presentation.
“You could probably for the rest of this year estimate out somewhere between $3.5 and $5 million a month in terms of impact once we open in Chicago,” Glover said.
By next year, Bally’s projects the temporary casino will generate between $50 million and $60 million in earnings for the company.
Bally’s, which currently owns and operates 15 casinos across 10 states, generated $606 million in revenue but lost $25.7 million during the second quarter, the company reported Thursday.
