The debate is still raging as to where the new proposed land based casino in Chicago will be built. However, whilst there are a handful of sites that are on the shortlist, something has just come to light that may end up killing that proposed casino long before a site is finally chosen for it.
That is a deep analysis report that the Illinois Gaming Board have just released, and it does make for some very grim reading for any land-based operator that did have an eye on bidding for the license to build and then operate a casino in Chicago.
Whilst it is generally agreed that the old Michael Reese hospital site would be the perfect location for that new casino, and one that does tick all of the right boxes regarding local opinion and transport links, even if that site is chosen if the report by the Illinois Gaming Board is anything to go by, the operator of that casino would struggle to make any money.
The killer blow regarding any new casino are some overly high taxes that would be forced upon the operator of that casino, which have been described as very onerous taxes by industry experts.
It has been suggested that the new casino, if built and opened could easily be able to generate gross annual gambling revenues of around the $800 million mark, which does at first glance appear to be a tidy amount of cash.
However, the sting in the tail is that the tax rate the casino operator would face on the gross revenue would be a huge 72%, which surely no casino operator would be able to sustain over the long term.
