Observers question expanded gambling in Illinois
Questions surrounding a gambling bill that is headed to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk have focused on regulation and on how much new casinos could raise for state coffers.
But casino industry watchers also are asking whether the gambling market will be oversaturated with five new riverboats, mini-casinos at the state’s five horse racing tracks and slot machines at Chicago’s airports. Increased competition from neighboring states, an unpredictable economy and casino bankruptcies are raising distress signals for the industry around the country.
The Illinois bill includes the nation’s first city-owned casino. It would be in Chicago, and be overseen by a board chosen by the mayor and approved by the Illinois Gaming Board. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been cranking up the pressure on Quinn to sign the bill. The mayor already has released a wish list of infrastructure projects he hopes to pay for with casino profits.
The Chicago-Northwest Indiana market ranks No. 3 in the nation in top casino earnings, behind Las Vegas and Atlantic City, according to the American Gaming Association. Every state but two, Hawaii and Utah, has some form of legal gambling, industry observers point out, raising questions about whether further expansion can be profitable.
Supporters say the appetite for gambling remains robust. They point to the July opening of Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, the state’s newest casino, as proof. Traffic jammed the Tri-State Tollway, the casino parking lot reached maximum capacity and patrons waited in long lines to get inside.
State Senate President John Cullerton, a Democrat from Chicago, said he was approached recently by a lobbyist hired by a Wisconsin casino who hoped to stifle competition by derailing Illinois’s expansion of gambling sites. The fact that neighboring states are worried suggests there is a market for more, Cullerton said.
Supporters also argue that a casino in tourist-rich Chicago would keep gamblers here instead of sending them across state lines. Dozens of buses depart from Chicago and the suburbs every day for gambling destinations elsewhere. Emanuel has said Illinois should not allow Indiana to get “$20 million a month while our infrastructure is crumbling.
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Casinos nationwide have suffered from the recession, including those on Las Vegas's famous strip. Dozens have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization, teetered on bankruptcy, scaled back on property improvements or laid off employees.
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