Bally’s Chicago takes aim to bring the first integrated resort to the Second City. By David McKee
t has not been an easy road for $2 billion Bally’s Chicago but a happy ending is in sight. Having recently topped out construction, the megaresort project is now putting flesh on the bones of what will be the Windy City’s biggest pleasure palace. Fronting on the Chicago River, Bally’s Chicago rises on the site of what used to be the Chicago Tribune printing plant, visible to anyone heading downtown from O’Hare International Airport.
This wasn’t always a sure thing. Many suburban casinos have already beaten it to the post, especially Rivers Des Plaines and Wind Creek Southland. But Bally’s Chicago will have something unique: placement right in the heart of the Second City. It’s elbowing into the City of Big Shoulders with hotel rooms and amenities that many of the suburban casinos will be unable to rival.
Bally’s had enjoyed a downtown foothold in the form of temporary Bally’s Casino, in venerable Medinah Temple. But, with a big assist from Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc., permanent Bally’s Chicago will be a ground-up addition to the city. There will be a burden of expectations. After all, Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim had predicted that the eventual resort would be “eating a lot of people’s lunches.” The man charged with bringing Bally’s Chicago on line is General Manager Ryan Coppola, an Illinois native. We spoke with him recently about, among other things, Bally’s Chicago’s certification as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) by the National Minority Supplier Development Council, the first such acclamation of a publicly traded gaming company.
At a time when “diversity” is a dirty word in the United States, Bally’s is justly proud of this recognition. As Kim said, “This recognition marks an important milestone not only for Bally’s but for the broader industry … to earn this certification reflects our belief that inclusive business practices strengthen organizations, support innovation, and create meaningful economic opportunities in the communities we serve and nationwide.”
And with that, we turn the microphone over to Coppola. We began by asking him the $2 billion question …
What opening date do you envision?
We are currently anticipating an opening in early 2027. We just hit our biggest milestone recently: the topping out in April. So we’re on track for that anticipated opening. Our commitment to hitting that date really shows up every time we nail one of these milestones.
What is the significance of MBE certification and how rare is it in the casino industry?
Very rare. We’re very proud that Bally’s is the first publicly traded gaming company that’s achieved MBE certification. Being the first is obviously an incredibly meaningful milestone that reflects what’s in Bally’s DNA: diversity of leadership. It shows up tremendously in Chicago. It outlines our approach to the business and ultimately we see it strengthen our innovation, the long-term performance, and – as you’ve probably seen with our rapid growth – it's another reference point of how valuable and strong that DNA can be.
What does it mean in concrete terms?
It really sets a new benchmark for our industry, being the first MBE-certified organization that is publicly traded. It really demonstrates, through a very visible example, how that diversity is embedded in how and what we operate. We have the Host Community Agreement that we are highly committed to, and been compliant with the entire way. It’s not treated as a separate initiative: It’s absolutely woven into what we do day to day and who we are. So thinking about a company of our scale, it shows that inclusive business practices and how we drive financial performance go hand in hand.
Bally’s is a highly diverse company. Why is that important?
When you think about the importance of diversity in a company like ours, we need talent. We need to attract the best and brightest – emerging talent as well as existing talent – in the industry and across other industries as they might join our cause. It turns into a strategic advantage for us. About half of our employees identify as minorities today. Almost half of them are women. At the leadership level it really stands out. Regularly, 75 percent of our board – and 50 percent of the executive team – are women and people of color.
The diverse perspectives that we have drive better decisions, bigger innovation. It allows us to have more sustainable growth. Ultimately it ensures that we authentically reflect our communities and also our customer base, wherever we’re operating.
What kind of responsible-gambling programs will you have in place?
We have a very comprehensive responsible-gaming program. When you look at our foundation of responsible gaming it is the bedrock of our operations. We have invested in many programs across the enterprise, as well as locally. Within the company we have ongoing employee training annually. We align those materials with the latest research and best practices in the industry. We provide accessible resources to any guests who need support. We do community-outreach programs. And we also adhere to and exceed many of the standards that are outlined in our Host Community Agreement.
It is the cornerstone of everything we do. It has to be a safe, responsible environment. We have to make certain that it’s top of mind at all touch points for guests and team members alike, as well as being responsible-gaming advocates for Bally’s — knowing that we’re one of one in the Chicago borders.
How many jobs will Bally’s Chicago create?
We anticipate approximately 3,000 jobs in total, across the resort when we’re fully open. That spans a wide range of disciplines and career levels, everything from no skill set that we’ll train up, to highly skilled folks we’ll attract.
What are you looking for in applicants and how wide of a net are you casting? Is this a local or national or international pitch?
What gets me so excited about this project is the vast net that we’ve cast and the interest level that we’ve already received, locally, regionally, nationally, and then internationally. We’re looking for all backgrounds and all skill-set levels.
When you think about Chicago, the history of the people here, it has this incredibly resilient culture and a fantastic, strong work ethic – this amazing hometown pride. We’re looking for that locally and also bringing folks in that have this incredible passion for taking care of people and hospitality. Then, even more-skilled individuals from the industry that we’ll need to help open and support the operations of such a large integrated resort … we’re searching nationally and internationally for them and have already interested some of the best in the business, across the globe.
There’s no shortage of casinos in Chicagoland. How do you differentiate Bally’s Chicago?
When you look at our competitive set, particularly in the Chicago market, it’s pretty clear that we’re different, just from how we stack up as an asset. Our state-of-the-art entertainment theater is going to stand out, not just in the market but across the nation and internationally. And then our hotel tower, spa, the civic spaces in our parks … when you put the whole campus together and contrast to our competitors, we stand apart just from that.
You look at our temporary casino, it’s the most successful temporary that has ever existed in Illinois. We’re growing share, we’re growing volumes. So you put all that together and see how we stack up against the competition, we’re highly differentiated, highly attractive for guests. It really appeals not just to gamers but also to entertainment-seekers, staycationers, international travelers, conventions and groups, as well as the day trippers.
The F&B is going to be unreal. The hotel is going to be a top-tier amenity and also the spa. And then the convention and banquets business will be significant as well. All of those are incredibly different channels for attracting different kinds of guests and that’s how we’ll stand out.
What will your gaming inventory be?
We have a significant amount of tables that covers all the game types you like to see, hundreds of those, including poker. Thousands of slots, and that will be every type of popular and emerging technology that you could imagine, across thousands of units. We have VIP areas. We have high-limit areas. We have premium-guest-experience spaces that can be rented out or reserved for play.
Who is the sort of customer you’re hoping to attract?
You’ll obviously have the avid gamers that are attracted to our offering. The fact that it’s unique to the city will be highly attractive. You’ll have a broad audience of locals, tourists, business travelers, entertainment fans – it’s going to be a big crossover because you’re going to have big pre- and post-game parties. Our sports bar is going to have an incredible environment for viewing.
We believe we’re going to attract a significant amount of international travelers, considering Chicago has 55 million annual tourists. We’ll stand out as a great entertainment option for them. Whether it’s gaming, dining, live entertainment, groups, tourism or even just folks who want to get out and enjoy the river walk, they will want to come over and see what we’re doing – and enjoy the property because it’s going to be absolutely gorgeous.
The best-performing casinos in Chicagoland are well in the suburbs. How do change that?
If you look at saturation, you have over a dozen casinos that are not in the city. You have broad distribution outside the city. The majority of the volume is there. When you think about where we compete today as a temporary and our fair share of the market, we over-index because of our success, our business plan and our location, being near a very dense population. It’s relative to how you’re looking at distribution versus penetration.
We’re going to be a differentiated offering in the third-biggest MSA in the country. When you think about the suite of offerings and products in a fully integrated resort, with that broad and diverse set of amenities, we will be in a much different market class than even the regional casinos. That’s what’s so unique about this project.
How’s your vehicular access?
Phenomenal. When you think about I-90, and right where we are between Chicago Avenue and Grand Avenue, it’s hundreds and hundreds of thousands of vehicles a day that travel north and south on the highway, but also east and west. Those are two of the biggest feeders in and out of the city. We are uniquely situated where we are not only next to the main-artery highway, but then the two main surface-street arteries in and out of the city.
We’re also located on the river, where we get to pick up water taxis. Then, with the new extension of the river walk over to our site – and connecting to the Chicago Avenue bridge that’s getting built – we also have an incredible amount of pedestrian traffic that we can forecast. You think about River North and how vibrant that community is and then that traffic flowing over into our new, River West location, we’re incredibly situated.
What will your parking capacity be?
It is significant. We’re still massaging some of the spacing but I’m certain we’re going to be north of 2,500. we’re nearing closer to 3,000 the more we massage the layouts.
How are other forms of transit access?
We’ve been talking with our city partners on what kind of infrastructure we can set up, primarily at the corner of Jefferson and Chicago. It’s a fantastic opportunity for CTA stops. We’ve thought a lot about different areas where we can secure bikes and have bike racks. Then there are organizations that are reaching out about having more private-type opportunities for ride shares. We’ll also have a bus program of our own. We have shuttles today that will continue to operate out into the communities.
Congratulations. You may be the first casino executive to mention bike parking.
It’s one of the best features of Chicago. When I walk around, I see a significant amount of people traveling around by bike. So we thought about how we make sure we have a significant amount of bike parking. We believe we’re going to be very local, in terms of our attractiveness, and we want to help feed and entertain the community around us. I believe people are going to jump on their bike and be at our site in a matter of minutes.
What message would you like to put out to your community, prior to your opening?
What I hope people take away from this project – and for me this is an incredibly special opportunity because I grew up outside Chicago and it feels like home to me – is that we are hyper-focused on reflecting the community. You’ll see that in the design, in how thoughtful the teams were in inception of how this can come together and really connect with the community.
We love the spirit of Chicago: How resilient, hard-working it is and just how much grit this city has. It really shows up in everything we do. We’re part of that because the majority of this team is either from Chicago or has adopted Chicago and fallen in love with it.
I really hope people, as we get to opening, understand that this team at Bally’s Chicago lives, breathes, eats, sleeps Chicago every day. We’re incredibly proud for this opportunity. It’s not lost on us how unique and fortunate we are to be here. We take it incredibly seriously, and aim to deliver a world-class experience and asset that will help change the trajectory of Chicago’s future positively, and make a long-lasting impact on the community, the people, the residents, and the gaming industry for many, many generations to come.
Casino Life Magazine would like to extend its sincere thanks to General Manager Ryan Coppola and his PR team for their invaluable help, support and assistance throughout this feature.
*** This exclusive feature was originally published in the June 2026 edition of Casino Life Magazine Issue 189 Volume 22***
