Bally’s Chicago may not be opening its new permanent casino this year after all.

With its already extended temporary license to operate at Medinah Temple set to expire in September and construction of the new casino complex racing the clock, state Rep. Kam Buckner introduced a bill Thursday to add up to another 12 months to the temporary license.

That would give Bally’s Chicago until September 2027 to open its new $1.7 billion casino, hotel and entertainment complex rising up on the 30-acre former site of the Tribune’s Freedom Center printing plant in River West.

“Bally’s Chicago remains fully committed to the construction of its permanent casino and entertainment destination and will continue operating at Medinah Temple in accordance with all regulatory requirements during the extension period,” Christopher Jewett, senior vice president of corporate development for Bally’s, said in a statement. “The adjusted timeline allows for Bally’s Chicago to operate the temporary casino inside of Medinah Temple through September 2027, if needed.”

A mayoral spokesperson declined to comment Thursday on the delayed opening of the permanent casino.

Bally’s Chicago said as recently as last week the target launch for the permanent casino, which has been pushed back several times, was the fourth quarter of 2026. That timing would still have required a legislative extension of the temporary license, according to the Illinois Gaming Board.

The temporary casino at Medinah Temple in River North opened its doors in September 2023, with revenue falling short of projections. Last year, Bally’s ranked fifth in the state and was roughly flat with nearly $125 million in adjusted gross receipts and 1.3 million visitors, according to Gaming Board data.

The three-year temporary license — two years plus a previous 12-month extension — was set to expire in September.

The proposed legislation by Buckner, whose 26th ward includes Medinah Temple, would extend the temporary license by an additional 6 months, with an option for two three-month extensions while construction of the permanent Bally’s Chicago facility is completed.

Selected by the city in 2022, Rhode Island-based Bally’s is building an entertainment complex that includes an exhibition hall, a 500-room hotel, a 3,000-seat theater, 10 restaurants and 4,000 gaming positions, making it the state’s largest casino.

The construction of the permanent casino has been delayed by everything from a Freedom Center demolition stoppage by the city in December 2024 after a debris spill in the Chicago River to an Illinois Gaming Board-imposed work stoppage in May 2025 over the use of an unauthorized waste hauler with alleged ties to organized crime.

In 2024, Bally’s had to relocate the 34-story hotel tower, which is beginning to rise up over the Ohio feeder ramp, to the south of the casino after it was determined that driving caissons into the ground might damage municipal water management infrastructure pipes along the Chicago River.

But Bally’s had been targeting a September 2026 opening — in line with the expiration of the extended temporary casino license — for several years. The launch date got pushed back to the fourth quarter of 2026 last year, and now may extend until September 2027 through the new legislation.

Getting into the larger permanent facility is a priority for both Bally’s and the city to meet ambitious shared revenue goals.

While Bally’s was flat, new facilities led a boom in casino revenue last year in Illinois. The state’s 17 casinos generated more than $1.9 billion in adjusted gross receipts in 2025, a 15% year-over-year gain, while admissions were up nearly 20% to more than 15.5 million visitors, according to data published by the Illinois Gaming Board.

New casinos at Wind Creek Chicago Southland, Hard Rock Rockford and a new land-based Hollywood Casino Joliet all contributed to the robust gains. The planned opening of Hollywood Casino Aurora’s new $360 million land-based facility remains on target for the first half of 2026.

Meanwhile in Waukegan, the permanent $500 million American Place Casino, delayed by a lawsuit, the governmental approval process and financing issues, is expected to finally break ground in the first quarter, according to casino owner Full House Resorts.

American Place, which ranked sixth last year with nearly $122 million in adjusted gross receipts, has been operating out of a temporary facility on an extended three-year license since February 2023. Granted an additional 18-month legislative extension because of the litigation, American Place is planning to open the permanent casino by the August 2027 expiration of the temporary license.

That puts the permanent Waukegan casino a month ahead of the new target launch for the permanent Bally’s Chicago complex.

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