Where Video Gambling Applications Stand in Chicago
Ward-level license counts and revenue estimates
Data from the Illinois Gaming Board shows that hundreds of Chicago businesses have applied for a video gambling license, even though no video gambling terminals are currently operating in the city. Chicago legalized video gambling terminals as part of the 2026 budget, but Mayor Brandon Johnson is now reportedly pushing for an ordinance that would re-ban them before any terminals begin operating.
The map below shows the number of establishments that have applied for a video gambling license in each ward. There are 288 total applications as of June 11, 2026. This is far short of the projections behind the 2026 budget that legalized the terminals, under which 2,640 establishments were expected to apply and bring in $6.8 million of terminal licensing fee revenue.1
Are applications still rising, or has demand already begun to level off? The graph below tracks the number of applications filed over time.2 After an initial surge when applications opened in early 2026, applications have continued to climb steadily, with little sign of tapering off. Even at the current pace, however, it would take years before the city reached the 2,640 establishments that the 2026 budget projected.
While the 2026 budget is likely to overestimate terminal license fee revenue, it may have underestimated the potential for some establishments to begin operating terminals in 2026. Because of the long processing timeline for the Illinois Gaming Board to approve new applications, the budget relied only on licensing revenue, not revenue from terminal operations. However, 6 Chicago establishments had their applications approved at the June 11 Illinois Gaming Board meeting, and many more may have a chance to operate in 2026, bringing in gambling revenue in addition to any initial licensing revenue.
How much revenue would terminals raise once in operation? We can use data from existing video gambling establishments to get a rough estimate. For existing Illinois establishments with video gambling terminals, the average total wagers per year is $4.3 million. Most wagers are won back by players ($3.9 million), leaving a net income of $400,000 per establishment.3 35% of each establishment’s net income goes to taxes. Of the taxed portion, most goes to the state—municipalities get 5% of net income. That works out to an average municipal tax revenue of $20,000 per establishment per year.
The money left over after state and municipal taxes is split by law between the terminal operator and the establishment. That means the average establishment would receive a $130,000 annual profit if the terminal operator pays all the expenses associated with its operation.
If all current applicants were approved and operated for a full year, it would yield Chicago about $5.8 million in tax revenue (not including any Chicago terminal license revenue from their separate application process). Of course, the total number of establishments could end up much higher than those with current pending licenses, and per-establishment wagers in Chicago could be higher than the rest of Illinois.4 If we double the revenue per establishment estimate as well as the number of establishments, total Chicago tax revenue would be $23 million per year.
For the more conservative tax revenue estimate, Chicago establishments would see about $1.23 billion in wagers, with players losing $115 million on net.
Some policymakers oppose legalization of video gambling out of concern about revenue from Chicago’s Bally’s Casino. Legalization of the terminals could violate the contract by which Bally’s pays Chicago $4 million per year. Bally’s is also threatening litigation, claiming video gambling legalization could cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars.
Beyond the threat of losing Bally’s $4 million annual payment and the threat of further losses from a lawsuit, there is also a risk that video gambling could cause Bally’s to lose customers. While that would obviously be bad for Bally’s, this shift in gambling dollars would also hurt Chicago, as state law gives Chicago more tax revenue for each dollar of net gambling revenue at Bally’s than at video terminals. While Chicago receives 5% of net income from video terminals, it receives roughly 12% from Bally’s operations.5. In other words, for every dollar lost by a gambler at a video terminal, Chicago gets 5 cents, while every dollar lost at Bally’s yields Chicago at least 12 cents.
The table below shows the number of license applications in each ward. You can click on a row to see the names and addresses of the establishments that have applied.
Civic Data Atlas downloaded the Illinois Gaming Board's public lists of licensed and pending video gaming applicants, geocoded Chicago addresses, and assigned each establishment to a ward. Counts include both approved licenses and pending applications. Data for revenue estimates come from the Illinois Gaming Board's monthly reports.
Footnotes
Once the terminals are in operation, they would be expected to bring in more tax revenue—the budget assumed only licensing fee revenue for 2026 because the state licensing process takes 6-8 months, leaving little time for terminals to operate in 2026. Of the 288 applications, just 6 have been approved, all at the June 11 Gaming Board meeting.↩︎
In the data, pending applications have a “status date” which is either the application date or the date the application was last updated. If applications are frequently updated, this approach overestimates the number of more recent applications.↩︎
In total, Illinois reported $38 billion worth of wagering activity last year.↩︎
While it seems certain that the total number of Chicago establishments applying for licenses will increase, the revenue per license is difficult to forecast. Existing Illinois terminal operators have widely ranging revenues.↩︎
For the first $25 million in net revenue from table games, Chicago gets 6.9%, with higher percentages for larger amounts of revenue. For the first $25 million in net revenue from electronic games, Chicago gets 10.5%, with similarly higher percentages for larger amounts of revenue. Given Bally’s 2025 revenue, we estimate average tax rates were about 12%. They would be higher if the permanent casino has more revenue↩︎