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t a special virtual meeting held last week, the Illinois Gaming Board announced that its selection of which of three applicants will receive a license to operate a casino planned for these 28 acres of city of Waukegan-owned land will take at least six months, in part because of a slower pace of work during the coronavirus pandemic.
Though the deadline to decide which applicant is awarded the casino license was Wednesday, Marcus Fruchter, the board’s administrator, said more time was needed to process the applications of the three contenders as well as five other licenses for other casinos throughout the state.
“To say things have changed is an understatement,” Fruchter said. “The applicants and the Illinois Gaming Board are in close contact. They know where they stand. We’re hard at work on the licenses in Danville, Rockford, Waukegan, and south suburban Cook County.”
According to the Chicago Tribune, before the process is complete for sites like Waukegan with competitive bids, Fruchter said an investment banker must be retained by the board to review the applications of the three contenders.
“It’s an open and competitive bidding process,” he said. “We will decide within six months of retaining an investment banker. We are in the process of sending out a request for qualifications.”
Gene O’Shea, a spokesperson for the board, said the investment banking requirement is part of the 2019 legislation passed by the Illinois General Assembly expanding gambling in Illinois. The bill provided for a Waukegan casino.
Waukegan Mayor Sam Cunningham said he is disappointed by the delay, but glad it is moving forward. He is anxious for what he calls an entertainment center, with a casino being built on the city’s 28-acre parcel. He hopes by the time the casino is operating, pandemic restrictions will be a thing of the past.
“When COVID-19 ia behind us, we hope the builders will be ready to build and the entertainment center with a casino will be up and operating,” Cunningham said. “The delay puts this six months behind, but the dream will be realized for the people of Waukegan.”
The three applicants are Full House Resorts, North Point Casino and Midwest Gaming. Representatives of all three operations said they understood the reasons for the board’s delay and looked forward to continuing the process.
“We’re excited they’re doing the request for qualifications,” said Alex Stolyar, Full House Resorts’ senior vice president and chief development officer. “We’re looking forward to continuing to being a part of the process. We’re clearly in the running.”
Jimmy Centers, a spokesperson for North Point, said he remains excited about an operation, which will include a hotel, shops and an outdoor amphitheater. He said the board is moving in a thoughtful way.
“As the Illinois Gaming Board continues to do its due diligence, we are slowly taking steps to build a world-class facility. We’re looking for a local builder and suppliers.”
Neil Bluhm, chairman of Rush Street Gaming which is one of the partners in Midwest Gaming, said in a statement he recognizes changes have occurred in the last year and understands the delay.
“We understand, as Administrator Fruchter said, that the realities of work and life are different now,” Bluhm said in the statement. “We support the gaming board taking the time it needs to do this important work.”
Fairmount Park awarded a Master Sports Wagering License
At the Thursday meeting, the board did decide to award Fairmount Park a Master Sports Wagering License and grant the racing track “preliminary suitable” status to add casino games The track has plans to expand by adding a racino.
Located near the Illinois-Missouri border and close to the St. Louis metropolitan area, Fairmount Park joins Hawthorne Race Course as an organizational licensee permitted to conduct sports betting and preliminary suitable status to expand and add casino games, Sports Handle reports. The horse racing tracks were permitted to apply for casino and sports betting licenses as part of the gaming expansion bill Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law in June 2019.
It is the ninth Master Sports Wagering license issued by the Illinois Gaming Board, all of which have been awarded since June. Fairmount Park applied for the license doing business as FanDuel Sportsbook and Horse Racing, which will make FanDuel the first sportsbook in Illinois to operate at multiple retail venues.
