On Tuesday 25 November the Illinois Gaming Board will meet to hear presentations from the three final applicants for the state’s 10th Owners Licence. The three applicants for the last available casino licence in Illinois are Midwest Gaming & Entertainment, Trilliant Gaming and Waukegan Gaming. The Board will listen to details of how the three companies expect to raise the money to support their bids.

Los Angeles-based Trilliant Gaming has bid $435 million for a licence for Rosemont, but the figure could change. Economic pressures make it unlikely that such a high bid, which does not include the cost of casino construction, could now be financed. Midwest Gaming and Entertainment, another casino project from developer Neil Bluhm, has bid a more realistic $100 million for a licence in Des Plaines. The third group, Waukegan Gaming, offered $225 million for a Waukegan licence.

Gaming Board officials maintain that the highest bid will not necessarily be awarded the final casino licence. Illinois wants the project that should offer the most stable generation of tax revenue. State revenue from its riverboat casinos already is suffering from the economic downturn and recent smoking bans. The winner will also have to contend with a graduated tax rate between 15% and 50% plus an admissions tax. In 2007 Illinois had the third highest gaming tax revenue in the US at just under $834 million. (E-11.24.08)

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