Bally’s Chicago saw a significant increase in both visitors and revenue in March, though it still isn’t generating nearly the amount of money lawmakers expected when it opened last year.

For March, Bally’s Chicago – currently situated at a temporary location at Medinah Temple – brought in more than $11.1 million in adjusted gross revenue, a month-over-month increase of 12.7 percent.

The casino also saw 118,000 visitors for the month, marking an 11.6 percent increase over February. Bally’s Chicago ranked second in Illinois in terms of visitors, and fourth in the state in revenue. 

Tax Revenue Falls Far Below Lawmaker Estimates

For the first three months of 2024, Bally’s Chicago has now generated more than $3 million in local tax revenue. But while that may be an improvement over the especially slow numbers seen at the facility in 2023, it still leaves the casino well short of reaching the $35 million in gaming taxes the city of Chicago projected the venue would generate for the year.

“We continue to build momentum month-over-month and we expect it to continue,” Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim said, via the Chicago Tribune. 

Bally’s Vice President and General Manager Mark Wong credited the stronger March results to events and promotions during the month.

“Our record-setting March results … were driven by a strong event calendar, St. Patrick’s Day festivities and an increasing number of repeat guests,” Wong said in a statement. “There has been a noticeable energy around our promotions and excitement about new amenities like the high-limit area that opened in March.”

Since opening in September, the temporary Bally’s facility at Medinah Temple has generated far less in revenue and tax payments than former Mayor Lori Lightfoot estimated. The casino brought in $3.1 million in taxes for the city for 2023, less than 25 percent of the initial $12.8 million Lightfoot budgeted for. Part of that was due to the casino opening three months later than anticipated. Money from the casino is earmarked to support police and firefighter pension funds.

Bally’s Faces Mounting Debt, Buy Out Battle

Bally’s expects to begin construction on a permanent resort complex located a Chicago Tribune publishing site in River West this summer. But there are multiple financial and corporate questions surrounding both the Chicago project and Bally’s as a whole.

In February, Bally’s told the Nevada Gaming Control Board that it was facing an $800 million funding gap to pay the additional $1.1 billion in expected costs for the Chicago casino. The company is already carrying a heavy debt load -- $3.6 billion as of the end of 2023 – which has led Fitch Ratings and Moody’s to each downgrade Bally’s credit rating in recent months.

At the same time, Kim – who is also a founding partner of the Standard General hedge fund, which is the largest shareholder in Bally’s – has been trying to buy out Bally’s, offering $15 per share to existing stockholders. While that’s more than the current share price of $13.45 (as of Friday afternoon), it is well below half of the $38 per share which Kim offered in a previous buyout effort in 2022. 

Earlier this month, Dan Fetters and Edward King – managing partners of K&F Growth Capital, which owns less than 1 percent of Bally’s – urged Bally’s board of directors to reject Kim’s proposal.

“[Kim] proposes to exploit this weakness and acquire Bally’s at a fraction of its fair value, using as a source of funds Bally’s own already overstretched balance sheet,” Fetters and King wrote. “Shareholders will be denied the opportunity to earn into what may be double the offered value per share.”

(Image: John Kim/Chicago Tribune/Alamy)