Casino Revenue Rebounding Post-Pandemic
A rendering of the new Hard Rock Casino under construction in Rockford.
New numbers from the Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability (COGFA) show casino revenue is “skyrocketing,” but still not quite pre-pandemic levels.
Casinos brought in around $900 million in revenue during FY21 (July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021) and around $1.3 billion in FY22 (July 1, 2021-June 30, 2022). But, those numbers are still below revenue numbers prior to the pandemic.
Governor JB Pritzker closed casinos at the height of the pandemic, between March 16 and June 30, 2020. Numerous other restrictions, including capacity limits and mask requirements, remained for months. Casinos produced around $1.4 billion in FY19, prior to the pandemic.
The FY22 number also includes the new Hard Rock Casino in Rockford, which opened its temporary facility in November. It produced $34 million in revenue in its first 8 months in operation.
Bally’s has put in its first application for a site in the city of Chicago. Obviously, there are a million hoops to jump through even to open a temporary site, but casino revenue could be ticking up even higher in the next couple of years.
Casino revenue probably shouldn’t be considered a savior for state coffers, though, as revenue has been trending downward in recent years. It was over $1.6 billion in FY2012, and declined each year between 2013 and 2021, according to COGFA. That’s part of why you’ve seen casinos make such a push for sports betting in recent years. Rivers Casino in Des Plaines is the only casino in the state that has seen its revenue actually increase over the past decade.
Casinos are taxed 15% on table games (blackjack, poker, etc.) up to $25 million and 20% above that. There is also an admissions tax and a tax on other games, like slots, that ranges from 15%-50%.