It probably won’t need all 4,000 positions in-house “to achieve optimal revenues,” since the Chicago metro area is “is already well penetrated” with nine casinos and thousands of video gaming terminals across the suburbs and northwest Indiana, the study found.
If the casino does get off the ground, that won’t be a problem, according to Union Gaming. Slots placed at the airport would be run by the operator of the Chicago mega-casino and count against the 4,000 gaming positions allotted to them. But potential airport winnings will be moot if Mayor Lori Lightfoot and state lawmakers don’t alter the casino’s 72% effective tax rate under Illinois’ sweeping gambling expansion, a levy the consulting firm deemed too “onerous” to draw any developers to the table.
