New Hollywood Casino Aurora Set to Open But it Faces Stiff Competition in Chicago Suburbs
Credit: Sea Cow/Wikimedia Commons
Hollywood Casino Aurora, located in the western suburbs of Chicago, will abandon its riverboat roots and move to a land-based property that opens on June 24. Its opening is part of an arms race in the Chicago area, which has become increasingly more saturated with casinos.
Hollywood Aurora opened in 1993, one of the first casinos under an old riverboat framework that once required such properties to move along the water. In 1999, legislation changed to allow them to remain docked. Since then, it has remained moored in the Fox River.
Aurora is one of the western-most suburbs of the sprawling metro, almost an hour’s drive from downtown Chicago.
Penn National Gaming now owns the casino, having acquired it in 2003. It’s investing an estimate $360 million into the move, which will fund a slew of new amenities. The new location sits about 15 minutes to the northeast, just off Interstate 88.
Hollywood Casino Aurora Upgrades, Shifts Business Model
Where the old property was described as “just a casino,” VP and General Manager Greg Moore told the Chicago Tribune that the new plan will produce a more complete entertainment complex. He called it an “evolution in the strongest sense of the word.”
The casino’s official website touts 900 slots and 50 table games. New amenities include a 200-room hotel, an event center, a spa, and restaurants from celebrity chefs, including Giada de Laurentiis.
De Laurentiis has experience teaming with casino properties. Her GIADA restaurant at the old Cromwell (now Vanderpump) in Las Vegas remains in operation after several years.
The old casino lists “more than 1,000 slots” and 21 table games among its gambling options. That means that not only is the balance between the two changing slightly, but the new property will actually feature fewer slots, typically the biggest money-maker for the house.
A business model shift to focus more on non-gaming amenities matches the industry trends right now. Gaming America has previously covered how Las Vegas buffets are becoming a thing of the past as casino resorts increasingly rely on revenue from outside of gambling. Loss leaders such as the buffets become increasingly marginalized in that environment.
As for the old property, no concrete plans have been announced. Penn National has agreed to demolish the riverfront property, return the land to the city, and allow the city to take over its old parking structures. They’ll become general-use parking for the public.
Chicago Gambling Market Close to the Saturation Point
Hollywood Casino Aurora has been one of the least-grossing properties in an increasingly saturated Chicago-area market. Where Chicago residents once flooded across state lines to myriad Indiana-based properties that met their gambling needs, they increasingly have robust options on the Illinois side of the border.
Chicago has at least nine casino properties in its metro area, counting only those in Illinois. It’s about half the size of the New York metro, which is allowing the construction of three casino properties. That means many more casinos fighting for the gambling dollars of many fewer people, albeit in a still-massive market of almost 10 million.
Hollywood Casino Aurora’s nearest competitors are sister property Hollywood Casino Joliet, Harrah’s Joliet, and Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin. The latter two are both Caesars properties. Hollywood Casino Aurora came in on the low end of the properties producing at least $100 million in adjusted gross receipts over the past year. All three of the aforementioned competitors outperformed it.
| Casino Property | AGR (April 2025-April 2026) |
|---|---|
| Rivers Des Plaines | $557,814,855.63 |
| Wind Creek Illinois | $233,961,294.90 |
| Hard Rock Rockford | $162,701,158.07 |
| Grand Victoria | $159,058,915.19 |
| Bally’s Chicago | $139,260,815.07 |
| American Place | $134,008,476.45 |
| Hollywood Joliet | $128,818,655.32 |
| Harrah’s Joliet | $121,837,111.00 |
| Hollywood Aurora | $111,031,059.56 |
Source: Illinois Gaming Board
Most of the other casinos have closer neighbors providing competition. None of the Illinois casinos reporting lower AGRs than Hollywood Aurora are located in the Chicago metro.
A riverboat property dating to 1993 won’t put up numbers competitive with a bustling modern casino like Rivers Des Plaines, located in an ideal position by Chicago O’Hare Airport. The new Bally’s near downtown will be even newer and more centrally located, whenever it finishes.
But Hollywood Casino Aurora lagging behind even fellow suburban competitors provided a clear signal to Penn National that an upgrade was needed.
Image credit: Sea Cow/Wikimedia Commons (license)
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