Casinos In Chicago May Damage Indiana But Suffer From Saturation
Could a casino in Chicago succeed? And if so, to what extent? That is what has been explored in a feasibility study in advance of plans actually going into effect.
Union Gaming Analytics came back with mixed results. Their conclusion was that any casino that existed within the Windy City was going to be inundated with taxes, to the extent that it could not be wildly profitable.
Can A Casino In Chicago Succeed?
At the same time, however, there was practically no way to avoid becoming the dominant facility in the market.
Over the long haul, that is going to affect the Indiana casinos that are located in Northwest, which borders Chicago. These are cities such as Hammond, Gary, Michigan City, and East Chicago, all of which currently draw from the Chicago area. It was projected that about $260 million in gross revenues would, in effect, be transferred from those Indiana areas to Chicago.
And it doesn’t necessarily stop there. Illinois Senate Bill 690 is also going to authorize both a casino and a “racino” (a horse track with slot games) in the south suburbs of Chicago, in addition to slots at other tracks like Arlington and Hawthorne.
Concerns About Saturation
So one can imagine the concern on the part of the Indiana operators. But there is a “saturation” factor as well, in that all of the gaming options that would be found in Chicago and its surrounding areas would perhaps make all of them weaker, since they would all be competing for the same customers and the same dollars.
And the placement of the casino in the city itself is going to be very important. The feasibility study points out that all of the sites that have been suggested by Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot would not optimize the effectiveness of the casino, simply because they are not convenient for enough gamblers to get to.
There are other factors that have to be taken into consideration. One of them is that customers who visit a casino in the city of Chicago itself would probably want to have some access to downtown. There are is also the very real concern of the casino being in an area that is unsafe. And let’s face it; Chicago’s violent crime rate is alarming to many people.
A Chicago Casino Can Realize Appreciable Revenue?
The study offers the opinion that a Chicago casino could realize appreciable revenues if it is located in an area where, in their words, “that is less penetrated with existing and future casino venues than the areas to the south of Chicago.”
Mayor Lightfoot has shown interest in fielding public input as to the best sites to place a casino in the city. Her office issued an eleven-question survey toward that end, which is designed to be answered by Chicago residents but does not have any built-in safeguards to prevent, say, residents from Northwest Indiana from giving a Chicago zip code and offering feedback.
Still, the mayor wants such a process to be transparent to, as she put it, assure the public that “all voices can be heard as the city moves forward on this historic project.”
