Indiana The Talk Of Southland Cook County Casino License Applicants
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The Illinois Gaming Board is considering a casino license application from Southland Cook County. The board did not vote on the three finalists Wednesday. They will meet again next Wednesday to choose a winner. The winner will be announced by January. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed a gaming expansion bill that legalized sports betting in June 2019. State Rep. Anthony DeLuca asked him to push the IGB into action.
Wind Creek is the first group to present to the IGB. It operates 10 casinos in four states and the Caribbean. Its proposed $440 million casino and hotel would produce the highest annual gaming revenue among the four finalists at $156 million. The project is expected to create 1,400 jobs. It would be built along the Homewood and East Hazel Crest borders. There would also be a 252-room hotel with 53 suites and a rooftop lounge with views of the Chicago skyline.
Delaware North is applying for a casino license in Cook County, Indiana. Calumet City is the only bidder not to partner with a tribal gaming outlet. Delaware North has prior casino gaming experience in Illinois. It sold Jumer's Casino in Rock Island to Twin Rivers in October 2020 for $120 million in cash. The temporary casino would open within three months of being awarded the license. The permanent casino has a projected opening date of 2024. There was a tax revenue projection of $78 million for the initial year of operation and nearly $600 million through the first five years of the operation up to 2028.
Matteson Village President Sheila Chalmers-Currin is promoting the development of a casino on the grounds of the former Lincoln Mall. The Choctaw Nation owns 22 casinos as part of $2 billion gaming and touring business. It has partnered with a local construction company for the $200 million project and recruited 17 African-American investors. The temporary casino would be located in the meeting space attached to a Holiday Inn located southeast of I-57 and U.S. Route 30. A permanent casino with 123,000 square feet of gaming space and a second phase would include a 200-room hotel and 33,00 square foot entertainment center.
Ho-Chunk Nation is applying for a license to build a $390 million casino in Southland, Indiana. The tribe has six casinos in Wisconsin and is building a seventh one in Beloit. It is planning to open the casino within four months of being granted the license. Mayor Jada Curry is not fully supportive of the project. The village adopted a resolution in support of Ho- Chunk. Ho Chunks hopes to lure Indiana residents across the state line. They have been in the community for over 15 years.
A third Indiana casino, Hard Rock Northern Indiana, opened in May. Horseshoe Hammond and Ameristar Casino in East Chicago are less than an hour's drive from the Loop. They generated a combined $78.5 million in adjusted gaming revenue and paid $49.4 million taxes. Both Hourseshoer and Ameristar have mobile sports betting tethers. Illinois has in-person registration to obtain access for mobile gaming.
