The Fiscal Year 2024 came to a close in June, and Illinois casinos finished it in a strong fashion.
The Prairie State’s 15 casinos reported $138.3 million in adjusted gross receipts, up 13.1% from $122.2 million in June 2023. Fiscal Year 2024 AGR totaled $1,618,179,032, representing 13.2% growth from $1.43 billion in FY 2023.
June’s casino revenue produced $28.3 million in state taxes and another $8.6 million in local taxes.
Largest casinos down, most others up year over year
Illinois offers multiple legal gambling options, including sports betting and brick-and-mortar casinos. However, two bills to legalize Illinois online casinos faltered during the 2024 legislative session, leaving it unavailable.
Rivers Casino Des Plaines has established itself as the top revenue earner in the state, and it maintained that reputation in June. Its $43.9 million AGR represented a 31.8% market share.
However, Rivers’ revenue declined by 0.9% year over year, as did other eight-figure revenue earners. Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin ($11.5 million) had the second-highest AGR in June but had the worst year-over-year declines at -7.6%. Harrah’s Joliet’s AGR ($10.3 million) fell 4.8% year over year.
Only two other casinos had year-over-year losses: Harrah’s Metropolis ($4.8 million; -7.2% YoY) and Argosy Casino Alton ($3 million; -2.6% YoY).
The remaining eight casinos had year-over-year gains. Their growth, plus Bally’s Chicago Casino and Walker’s Bluff Casino, which opened within the past year, contributed to the 13.1% monthly figure.
Casino June 2024 Revenue June 2023 Revenue YoY Change
Rivers Casino Des Plaines $43,930,767 $44,351,275 -0.9%
Grand Victoria Casino $11,512,413 $12,454,435 -7.6%
Bally's Chicago $10,393,687 Opened Sep. '23 N/A
Harrah's Joliet $10,348,067 $10,864,729 -4.8%
American Place Casino $8,784,115 $6,605,204 33.0%
Hollywood Casino Aurora $8,035,582 $7,893,396 1.8%
Hollywood Casino Joliet $7,753,882 $7,177,420 8.0%
DraftKings at Casino Queen $7,098,297 $6,635,545 7.0%
Hard Rock Casino Rockford $6,085,964 $5,760,935 5.6%
Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino $5,510,078 $5,311,081 3.7%
Bally's Quad Cities $5,306,826 $4,887,938 8.6%
Harrah's Metropolis $4,809,993 $5,180,816 -7.2%
Golden Nugget Danville $3,171,478 $2,083,669 52.2%
Argosy Casino Alton $2,961,619 $3,040,346 -2.6%
Walker's Bluff $2,577,959 Opened Aug. '23 N/A
TOTAL $138,280,727 $122,246,792 13.1%
Slots and table games up double digits
All 15 Illinois casinos offer slot machines and table games, both of which showed double-digit gains in June.
Slot machines generated $104.2 million, up 12.3% from June 2023 ($92.8 million). Rivers Casino accounted for over one-quarter of that, making $26.4 million from its electronic gaming devices. No other casino made $10 million in the month from slots.
Table games made up the remaining $34.1 million, up 15.8% from June 2023 ($29.4 million). Rivers had an even greater impact in table games, its $17.5 million in revenue representing more than half of the state’s total.
The month wasn’t a success for all casinos, though. Six had year-over-year declines in table game revenue, five in casinos and four in both.
Casino Table Games YoY Change Slots YoY Change
Rivers Casino Des Plaines $17,513,753 5.6% $26,417,014 -4.9%
Grand Victoria Casino $2,134,771 -14.7% $9,377,642 -5.8%
Bally's Chicago $3,875,370 N/A $6,518,318 N/A
Harrah's Joliet $1,376,248 -22.8% $8,971,819 -1.2%
American Place Casino $1,567,757 11.0% $7,216,358 39.0%
Hollywood Casino Aurora $1,466,070 -21.2% $6,569,513 8.9%
Hollywood Casino Joliet $940,407 11.1% $6,813,475 7.6%
DraftKings at Casino Queen $1,615,346 13.4% $5,482,952 5.2%
Hard Rock Casino Rockford $559,070 34.9% $5,526,894 3.4%
Par-A-Dice Hotel Casino $866,467 -10.6% $4,643,611 6.9%
Bally's Quad Cities $299,003 30.4% $5,007,823 7.5%
Harrah's Metropolis $928,043 -11.9% $3,881,950 -5.9%
Golden Nugget Danville $506,384 560.1% $2,665,094 32.8%
Argosy Casino Alton $260,098 -7.1% $2,701,520 -2.1%
Walker's Bluff $175,969 N/A $2,401,990 N/A
IL casinos carry momentum into the rest of 2024
Monthly casino revenue fell by 3.9% from May’s $143.8 million. Nonetheless, June’s revenue was third best in 2024 and brings the calendar year’s total to $827.7 million (+13.2% YoY)
- January: $118.6 million (+5.3% YoY)
- February: $137.7 million (19.7% YoY)
- March: $152.3 million (+16.3% YoY)
- April: $137 million (+6.9% YoY)
- May: $143.8 million (+17.9% YoY)
- June: $138.3 million (+13.1% YoY)
Last year, casino AGR exceeded $790 million from July through December. If Illinois casinos continue to show double-digit year-over-year growth, they will come close to making another $900 million.
At that pace, the industry will generate more than $1.7 billion in 2024.
