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A new Golden Nugget casino is on the way after receiving preliminary status from the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB).
Located in Danville, Illinois, the new casino will open in early 2023, should everything proceed as planned.
Danville and Golden Nugget
Danville Development LLC is in charge of the Golden Nugget casino bid and will spearhead the development.
The slot machines, 14 table games, and two restaurants. The property is also expected to house a retail sportsbook.
Additionally, the casino will create roughly 300 full-time jobs. However, there will not be a temporary casino.
Last week, Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. had this to say:
“What that would mean for Danville is within 45 to 60 days, you would likely be having a groundbreaking. So we could be meeting as soon as April, the end of April to do that. And from there, we would likely have a casino open the early part of 2023.”
Entering the Illinois online gaming market
Although Golden Nugget has expressed interest in ing the Illinois online sports betting market, it might be tricky.
In 2021, DraftKings acquired Golden Nugget Online Gaming for $1.56 billion in an all-stock deal. At the time of the announcement, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said the deal would help DraftKings reach customers who don’t necessarily bet on sports.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2022.
Casino expansion in Illinois
Thus far, five applicants have been found “suitable” for new casino licenses in the state.
New casino regions are:
- Rockford
- Waukegan
- South Suburbs
- Williamson County
- Danville
In 2019, state lawmakers ed the Illinois Gaming Act, which allowed six new casinos. The sixth and final location is in Chicago.
Recently, the Chicago organization Friends of the Park submitted a letter ing Rivers Casino McCormick. Rush Street Gaming founder Neil Bluhm submitted two of the five bids to operate a Chicago casino.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said a decision on the winning casino operator would come this spring.
