Bally's Flags $5 Billion Debt Risk as Chicago Casino Faces Video Gambling Fight

3 articles · Updated · Chicago Sun-Times · Aug 17

Bally’s told investors its debt load creates “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue over the next 12 months, even as it targets an early 2027 opening for its permanent Chicago casino.
About $400 million in remaining construction costs, a $56.4 million first-half 2026 loss and a $233.3 million accumulated deficit drove the warning, with the temporary Medinah Temple casino still not breaking even.
The company said it is pursuing asset sales, an equity raise and new debt financing, while insisting the accounting warning is separate from its decision to slow ancillary construction work.
That slowdown has become a political fight after Chicago approved video gambling terminals that Bally’s says would cut casino revenue, while critics argue the company is using the dispute to mask financing problems.