All bets could be on in Chicago by the end of summer. 

State regulators on Thursday handed down a key early approval to Bally’s Chicago casino plan, paving the way for the corporation to launch a temporary gambling house within a couple of months at the historic Medinah Temple in River North while they build the permanent structure in River West. 

The four-member Illinois Gaming Board voted unanimously on a finding of “preliminary suitability” for Rhode Island-based Bally’s, which was former Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s pick to spearhead the casino that had eluded generations of mayors before her. 

Lightfoot pushed Bally’s plan through the City Council last spring after a contentious operator selection process, and the corporation applied for state approval in August 2022. 

While city officials originally aimed to fire up Bally’s bright lights — and start pumping revenue into the city’s depleted police and firefighter pension funds — by this June, the gaming board’s decision keeps the corporation on track to meet their target of inviting gamblers to Medinah, 600 N. Wabash Ave., by August. 

The gaming board’s “preliminary suitability” finding allows Bally’s to lay the groundwork for their operations both at Medinah and the $1.7 billion casino complex they’ve envisioned at the site of the Chicago Tribune printing press at Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street, which is expected to open by 2026. 

Provided

Before the gaming board vote, Illinois Gaming Board Administrator Marcus Fruchter called it “a very significant and important step” but noted that it “is not the final act in this opera.”

The curtain won’t rise until Bally’s meets Fruchter’s final set of regulatory hurdles, including a test run of their slots and table games, before the temporary Medinah site can open — potentially in a matter of weeks. 

That would be a quicker turnaround time for vetting by the gaming board compared to five other new casinos introduced elsewhere in Illinois since Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a massive gambling expansion into law in 2019. Bally’s already owns an Illinois casino in Rock Island, in addition to 14 others nationwide.

Gambling meccas in Rockford, Waukegan and Danville have taken over a year from application to accepting bets. Another new casino is expected to open later this year in downstate Williamson County, followed by another slated for early next year on the border of south suburban Homewood and East Hazel Crest. 

Victor Hilitski/For theSun-Times

But the Chicago mega-casino and its 4,000 gaming positions — double the size of any other in Illinois — has long been pegged as the biggest gambling cash cow for city pensions and the state, which is earmarking new gambling revenue for a $45 billion capital infrastructure plan. 

The casino promises to serve as a lasting legacy for Lightfoot, who secured the Springfield support necessary to adjust its high tax rate in 2020 and bring the project to fruition. Like plenty of other initiatives of the one-term mayor, it came with controversy. 

Lightfoot abruptly named Bally’s as her operator last year from among three finalists without any substantial input from a City Council committee that ostensibly had been created by Lightfoot to handle all matters related to the long-coveted casino. 

Bally’s plan is staunchly opposed by River North Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd), who has predicted a rise in crime and traffic around the temporary casino at Medinah — a location selection he has slammed as an eleventh-hour “switcheroo.”

Bally’s officials have said in public meetings that they initially wanted to build their temporary casino near the permanent River West site, but sources have said Lightfoot instead encouraged Bally’s to use the Medinah Temple site. 

It’s owned by Friedman Properties, which collected nearly $77,000 in rent-related payments since 2019 as the landlord for the offices of Lightfoot’s campaign fund, the Sun-Times has reported. 

The former mayor’s office previously said it had “no involvement” in the Medinah site selection. Lightfoot also backed Bally’s traffic and public safety plans, while touting the $40 million up-front payment the company made to the city after receiving City Council approval. 

City budget officials project the casino to eventually pump $200 million per year into pension funds, which are estimated to have an unfunded liability of $33 billion.