Illinois Casino Revenue Rises 12.7% to $178.2m in September as Hollywood Aurora Gains 81%

Illinois casinos took $178.2 million in September, up 12.7% on a year earlier, and 14 of the state's 17 properties grew. Penn's new land-based Aurora casino supplied about a third of the increase; the rest came from players spending more per visit, not from more visits.

• Illinois casinos generated adjusted gross receipts of $178.2 million in September 2026, up 12.7% year on year, according to the Illinois Gaming Board's monthly casino report, with electronic gaming devices up 12.4% to $134.6 million and table games up 13.8% to $43.6 million
• Hollywood Casino Aurora, which moved from its riverboat to a land-based casino in June, rose 81.1% to $14.3 million and accounted for about a third of the statewide increase
• Admissions rose 3.8% to 1,343,362, but outside Aurora they were slightly down, so most of the growth came from higher spending per visit
• Rivers Casino in Des Plaines led with $44.1 million, up 7.6%, while Bally's Chicago grew 2.2% to $11.3 million as its dispute with the city over video gaming terminals continues
• State and local tax allocations rose 13.3% to $56.9 million, and year-to-date receipts of $1.63 billion are 11.9% ahead of 2025, extending the pattern seen in July

Fourteen of Seventeen Illinois Casinos Grew in September

Illinois' 17 casinos reported adjusted gross receipts (AGR) of $178,171,046 for September 2026, against $158,085,251 a year earlier, an increase of 12.7%, according to the Casino Summary published by the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB). Electronic gaming devices produced $134.6 million, up 12.4%, and table games $43.6 million, up 13.8%. CDC Gaming first reported the totals.

Admissions rose 3.8% to 1,343,362. The board's tax allocation columns, which combine admissions and wagering taxes, show $45.6 million to the state, up 13.9%, and $11.3 million to host communities, up 10.7%. For the first nine months of 2026, casino AGR totals $1.63 billion, 11.9% ahead of the same period of 2025, with the state's share up 14.4% to $314.9 million.

Rivers Casino in Des Plaines remained the largest property by a distance, with $44.1 million, up 7.6%, or about a quarter of the statewide total. Its table games alone took $17.3 million, nearly 40% of all table revenue in the state. Wind Creek Chicago Southland followed with $19.9 million, up 24.9% on admissions up 9.7%. Hollywood Casino Aurora took $14.3 million, Hard Rock Casino Rockford and Grand Victoria in Elgin $12.4 million each, Hollywood Casino Joliet $11.7 million, Bally's Chicago $11.3 million, and Full House Resorts' American Place in Waukegan, listed by the board as FHR-Illinois, $10.8 million, up 14.1%.

Aurora's New Building and a Racino's New Tables

The largest gain was at Hollywood Casino Aurora, up 81.1%, with admissions up 80.1% to 124,101. Penn Entertainment opened its $360 million land-based replacement for the Fox River riverboat on 24 June, according to ABC7 Chicago, and the IGB report lists its gaming space at 53,407 square feet against 41,384 a year earlier. Aurora added $6.4 million of the statewide increase of $20.1 million.

Fairmount Park in Collinsville, Illinois' only racino, rose 61% to $2.1 million. A year earlier it reported no table game revenue; in September its tables took $86,020, after what its operator described in May as an investment of nearly $3 million and 35 new hires to add live table games. Golden Nugget Danville, listed as Danville Development, rose 31.2% to $3.7 million. Grand Victoria grew 13.2%, and the IGB report shows its gaming floor at 48,235 square feet against 29,850 a year earlier, a change the report does not explain.

Three casinos declined: DraftKings at Casino Queen fell 8% to $6 million, with table games down 36.5%, Harrah's Metropolis fell 3.5% to $4.2 million, and Walker's Bluff fell 2.5% to $2.7 million. Several properties grew revenue on fewer visitors. Hollywood Casino Joliet, which Penn moved off its riverboat into a land-based casino on 11 August 2025, rose 4.2% on admissions down 13.8%, now comparing new building with new building, and Hard Rock Rockford rose 4% on admissions down 9.2%.

Chicago's Casino Grows Slowly as Its Fight With the City Goes On

Bally's Chicago, still operating from its temporary casino at Medinah Temple, grew 2.2% on flat admissions, with table revenue down 4.5% and slots up 6.4%. Its temporary licence was due to expire in September; after the General Assembly passed extension language in the omnibus revenue bill SB3019, the IGB authorised another year, to 9 September 2027, according to The Times of Northwest Indiana.

The company paused construction of the hotel and entertainment elements of its $1.7 billion River West complex in August, in protest at the City Council's legalisation of video gaming terminals in Chicago bars and restaurants. At a council committee hearing on 9 September, Bally's said it had the cash to finish the project and that the casino itself was scheduled to open as planned, according to WTTW News, which also reported that 63 state video gaming licences had been approved in the city but no terminals had yet been switched on.

Strip Out Aurora and the Market Still Grew 9%, on Flat Footfall

Without Hollywood Casino Aurora, Illinois casino AGR rose 9.1% in September, and admissions at the other 16 properties fell 0.5%. Revenue per admission across the state rose 8.6%, from $122.10 to $132.63. That says the growth is not just a construction story. Relocations explain the biggest percentage moves, but the broad gain is coming from customers spending more per trip at properties that have not moved, such as Harrah's Joliet, Par-A-Dice and American Place. Hollywood Joliet, a year past its own move, grew just 4.2%, a reminder of how quickly a relocation bounce fades. The caveat is that AGR is driven by hold as well as volume, and the monthly report does not publish handle or drop, so one month of higher spend per visit cannot be separated from a lucky month on the tables.

Bally's Is Growing Least Among the Big Properties, Before Its Main Threat Has Arrived

Of the eight properties above $10 million, Bally's Chicago grew slowest, at 2.2%, against 24.9% at Wind Creek and 7.6% at Rivers in the same metropolitan market. That matters because Bally's argues that video gaming terminals will cannibalise its revenue, yet no Chicago terminal had been switched on as of the 9 September hearing. Statewide, video gaming is already the larger business: terminals generated $286.8 million in net terminal income in August, the latest month the IGB has published, about 1.5 times the $192.8 million casinos took that month. The first months of Chicago terminal data will be the real test of Bally's case. Until then, a temporary casino growing at 2% while its suburban rivals grow faster is weak evidence either way, and both the company and the council will find something in it.

Illinois' land-based casinos are growing at double digits, and tax receipts are rising faster still. The question for the rest of the year is how much of that is new buildings and how much survives when the comparisons catch up.