{"id":112144,"date":"2019-08-14T08:38:35","date_gmt":"2019-08-14T15:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=112144"},"modified":"2019-08-14T13:03:14","modified_gmt":"2019-08-14T20:03:14","slug":"chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Casino Proposal Unprofitable, Uninvestable, Says Feasibility Study"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chicago\u2019s first casino would struggle to make money because it would be the most highly taxed gaming operation in America, according to a feasibility study<\/a> released Tuesday by the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB).<\/p>\n

\"Chicago
Will a casino tower soon jostle for attention on the Chicago skyline? A feasibility study says a downtown casino would generate $350 million more than the sites currently shortlisted. (Image: Etsy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The study, conducted by Union Gaming Analytics (UGA) on behalf of the IGB, concludes that if the project were to go ahead with the proposed taxation rate, it would need to be developed without incurring a dollar of debt because no right-minded investor would finance it.<\/p>\n

In May, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a massive gambling expansion package that paved the way for one large-scale Chicago casino, as well as five smaller regional ones. But under current proposals, the Chicago property would be taxed more onerously than the others because it would have to pay a 33 percent additional \u201cprivilege tax\u201d to fund firefighter and police pensions.<\/p>\n

\n

This, coupled with upfront fees and regular taxes, would create a de facto rate of 72 percent on gross gaming revenues, according to the study.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Meanwhile, the casino\u2019s operating expenses, which include things like advertising, marketing, payroll, rent, and utilities, could easily be expected to hit 30 percent of gross gaming revenues, making the project financially unfeasible.<\/p>\n

Go Downtown <\/strong><\/h2>\n

UGA didn\u2019t think much either of the five potential sites shortlisted by the City for the casino, which are all in either the southside or westside, instead recommending a downtown location to attract tourists rather than just locals.<\/p>\n

Tourists generally will not patronize a casino in an area that is inconvenient relative to where they are staying or perceived as unsafe, nor will tourists be eager to book a room at a casino\u2019s hotel if there are no other easily accessed attractions nearby,\u201d the report says.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“For these reasons and more, we would not expect a material number of tourists to patronize any of the five sites analyzed,\u201d the report adds.<\/p>\n

The good news — although not for firefighters or police officers — is that the elimination of the privilege tax would create a profitable venture that \u201chas the potential to become the highest-grossing casino in Illinois,\u201d according to the study. A more central location would add an estimated $350 million in revenues per year, it concluded.<\/p>\n

Time for a Rethink <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot<\/a> told reporters Tuesday that changes could be made.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The five sites] were placeholders for the study to move forward. We\u2019re just in the beginning in our process of engaging with the community,\u201d she said, as reported by Chicago Curbed. <\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBut first and foremost, we have to get the tax structure right, because otherwise, we\u2019re talking about something that can\u2019t be done,\u201d Lightfoot added. \u201cWe look forward to rolling up our sleeves with the governor and legislative leaders and work on a bill that gets it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lawmakers in Illinois have floated the idea of a Chicago casino for years. But now, having finally believed they had achieved that goal, they must go back to the drawing board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chicago\u2019s first casino would struggle to make money because it would be the most highly taxed gaming operation in America, according to a feasibility study released Tuesday by the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB). The study, conducted by Union Gaming Analytics (UGA) on behalf of the IGB, concludes that if the project were to go ahead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":112146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,18943],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nChicago Casino Proposal Unprofitable, Uninvestable, Says Study<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Chicago casino would not be able to make money at the proposed tax rate, says feasibility study by Union Gaming Analytics.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chicago Casino Proposal Unprofitable, Uninvestable, Says Study\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Chicago casino would not be able to make money at the proposed tax rate, says feasibility study by Union Gaming Analytics.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-08-14T15:38:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-08-14T20:03:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chicago.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1184\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/\",\"name\":\"Chicago Casino Proposal Unprofitable, Uninvestable, Says Study\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chicago.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-08-14T15:38:35+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-08-14T20:03:14+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"A Chicago casino would not be able to make money at the proposed tax rate, says feasibility study by Union Gaming Analytics.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chicago.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chicago.jpg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":1184,\"caption\":\"Will a casino tower soon jostle for attention on the Chicago skyline? A feasibility study says a downtown casino would generate $350 million more than the sites currently shortlisted. (Image: Etsy)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Research\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/research\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Chicago Casino Proposal Unprofitable, Uninvestable, Says Feasibility Study\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\",\"name\":\"Philip Conneller\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Philip Conneller\"},\"description\":\"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chicago Casino Proposal Unprofitable, Uninvestable, Says Study","description":"A Chicago casino would not be able to make money at the proposed tax rate, says feasibility study by Union Gaming Analytics.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chicago Casino Proposal Unprofitable, Uninvestable, Says Study","og_description":"A Chicago casino would not be able to make money at the proposed tax rate, says feasibility study by Union Gaming Analytics.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2019-08-14T15:38:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-08-14T20:03:14+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1800,"height":1184,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chicago.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Philip Conneller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@casinoorgphilc","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Philip Conneller","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/","name":"Chicago Casino Proposal Unprofitable, Uninvestable, Says Study","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chicago.jpg","datePublished":"2019-08-14T15:38:35+00:00","dateModified":"2019-08-14T20:03:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b"},"description":"A Chicago casino would not be able to make money at the proposed tax rate, says feasibility study by Union Gaming Analytics.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chicago.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/chicago.jpg","width":1800,"height":1184,"caption":"Will a casino tower soon jostle for attention on the Chicago skyline? A feasibility study says a downtown casino would generate $350 million more than the sites currently shortlisted. (Image: Etsy)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/chicago-casino-proposal-unprofitable-uninvestable-says-feasibility-study\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Research","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/research\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Chicago Casino Proposal Unprofitable, Uninvestable, Says Feasibility Study"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b","name":"Philip Conneller","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-5-1-96x96.png","caption":"Philip Conneller"},"description":"In Philip Conneller\u2019s eight years with Casino.org, he has covered the gaming industry from Las Vegas to Macau and everything in between. He currently focuses his coverage on gaming law, white-collar crime, global money laundering, tribal gaming, politics, and regulation. Philip was the original features editor for poker\u2019s Bluff Magazine and editor for Bluff Europe, which he helped launch. His writing has also been featured in ESPN, Forbes, Time Out, The Sun, and The Daily Star, as well as iGaming Business, eGaming Review, and numerous other industry news and tech websites. His news stories for Casino.org\/news have been linked by The Washington Post, The Daily Mail, People Magazine, and Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show, among many others. Philip once won $20,000 with 7-2 off-suit. He has been reprimanded for unwittingly playing Elton John\u2019s piano on two separate occasions on both sides of the Atlantic. He became a writer because he is a lousy pianist. Philip lives outside London with his wife and children, where he spends his time agonizing about Arsenal FC. Contact Philip at philip.conneller@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/philip-conneller","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/philip-conneller-1495a48\/?originalSubdomain=uk","https:\/\/x.com\/casinoorgphilc"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/phillip-conneller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}