While members of the Lightfoot administration touted the proposal from Bally’s as the most lucrative proposal the city recieved and said the casino would be an “iconic” addition to Chicago's riverfront, nearly all members of a special City Council committee formed to consider the plan greeted those claims with skepticism.

Lightfoot’s support for a casino on what is now the Chicago Tribune printing plant and newsroom near Chicago Avenue and Halsted Street will bounce the roulette ball to the Chicago City Council to consider Bally’s plan.

With three community meetings complete, the roulette ball bounces back to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who is expected to make her decision within the next two months and pick one of three proposed Chicago casino locations. 

Mayor Lori Lightfoot does not expect to pick one of the three finalists and ask the Chicago City Council to ratify her decision until early summer, a significant delay since the fall, officials said.

All bets are in. The state’s gaming commission chose which developers will be allowed to build new suburban casinos — and where. This comes nearly two-and-a-half years after the state’s gambling expansion law passed.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said getting a casino off the ground in Chicago will “usher in a new and exciting era for our city.” 

Three firms want to build a casino and resort in Chicago, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office announced Friday. All five proposals are of a “high-caliber,” Lightfoot said in a statement released by the mayor’s office.

The process to get a Chicago casino is taking longer than originally anticipated. Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Friday the city would extend the deadline for interested parties to submit proposals to build and operate the casino.

A permanent casino could open as soon as 2025 in Chicago, although slot machines could start ringing at O’Hare and Midway airports much sooner — with tentative plans for a temporary gaming palace also in play. 

An onerous tax structure would virtually kill any chance that a Chicago casino operator could make a profit, despite an ability to make massive amounts of money, according to a newly released feasibility study.

Where to put a Chicago casino? A $120,000 feasibility study may offer some insight on five potential sites proposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been lobbying hard for a Chicago casino ostensibly to help tackle the city's pension and budget woes. Meanwhile, state Rep. Bob Rita is sponsoring two bills that would create as many as five new casinos in Illinois, one of which would be a mega casino in Chicago. How would a casino in Chicago impact the city? And how would it affect existing state casinos?