Financial Firm’s Ties To Bally’s Raise Concerns For Chicago Casino

Early in May, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her administration decided to allow Bally & rsquo to build a new casino in the city. For the right to construct the casino, Bally & rsquo defeated Rivers 78 and Hard Rock.

Lightfoot and her team were in charge of sorting through the various proposals for the project. The group announced Bally’s as the winner last week after nearly seven months of reviewing the applications.

Bally & rsquo, however, has ties to a financial advisory firm that is questioning the fairness of the hiring process.

Why did Bally & rsquo, s win the casino in Chicago?

Bally’s won the Chicago casino bid for a handful of reasons.

First of all, Bally & rsquo offered the largest up-front payment to win the approval of Chicago & reg.

To buy the gaming license, Bally & rsquo made a$ 25 million offer. That amount was unmatched by any other business.

Second, Bally & rsquo had the most reliable labor contract in place to build their proposed casino. A work agreement was clearly valued as a crucial component of the process by the Chicago City Council.

Lastly, Lightfoot and her team used projections from an outside company to see which casino would bring in the most revenue. The results of the projection showed that Bally’s would be the most financially advantageous choice for the city.

That probably made it simple for Lightfoot to continue with Bally & rsquo, but that’s also where things start to get complicated.

These estimates were made for Lightfoot and her staff by an expert company by the name of Union Gaming. Bally & rsquo, which collaborates directly with the business, is beginning to raise some questions about how precise those predictions were.

Bally & rsquo collaborates with Union Gaming.

Union Gaming is an investment banks with a focus only on the game sector, according to its website. They provide guidance and assistance to government, industry, and institutional traders.

Last year, Union Gaming assisted in raising$ 696 million for Bally & rsquo. That & rsquo represents a significant amount of change and strengthens the company’s ties to Bally.

Given their prior relationship, some people wonder if Bally & rsquo received a sizable revenue projection to ensure that Lightfoot and the city of Chicago would choose them.

Ald. Brendan Reilly of Chicago’s 42nd Ward appeared on WGN Radio to discuss the situation.

We & rsquo is being instructed to rely on a single analysis, report, and revenue projection created by Union Gaming, which the city hired to assist with the analysis. It turns out that last year, Union Gaming contributed$ 700 million to Bally & rsquo. Are we certain that the information they are presenting is correct? & rdquo,

River North, which Reilly has described as a thriving, growing, and densely populated area, is the proposed location for Bally & rsquo. In the end, Reilly believes that opening a casino in the area may spend economic growth.

He thinks that Chicago may have at the very least used more than one fiscal review during the hiring process. especially given that the one the town ultimately chose had good relationships to the successful business.

The game venture is moving along as expected, at least for the time being.

Bally & rsquo,s still need to be given by the Chicago City Council and the Illinois Gaming Board. a hands up It will take weeks, if not months, for that controversial process to be finished.