Photo by Wikimedia Commons, CC by 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Hollywood Aurora coming to Illinois
PENN’s new land-based casino property is still awaiting regulatory approval from the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB).
Assuming approval is granted, the facility will be the gaming giant’s second to open in the Chicagoland region within the last year. The other is Hollywood Casino Joliet, which opened in Aug. 2025.
“We are now months away from opening another premium entertainment destination in the greater Chicago region,” said PENN CEO and president Jay Snowden. “We are thrilled to follow the successful rollout of Hollywood Casino Joliet last summer with another new land-based property, strengthening our overall retail portfolio in the Midwest and deepening our roots in the community.”
The new facility will sit opposite Chicago Premium Outlets, a prominent shopping center in Aurora near Interstate-88. It will include a luxury hotel, more than 1,200 gaming stations, slot machines, live-dealer table games, and a retail sportsbook. Other amenities include a spa, bars and restaurants, an event center, an outdoor entertainment area, and about 1,700 parking spaces.
PENN expects to hire 700 employees when the casino opens, nearly doubling its current staff in the area.
Making a dent in the Illinois market
In addition to the soon-opening casino, PENN owns and operates two Illinois land-based casinos: Hollywood Casino Joliet and Argosy Casino Alton. Those and its riverboat property combined to generate $239.8 million in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2025, which represented 12.3 percent of the state’s $1.94 billion in GGR.
While that marks a significant chunk of the 17-casino Illinois gaming market, it is still well off the leader, Rivers Casino Des Moines, which posted $503.1 million in GGR.
Hollywood Joliet and Hollywood Aurora ranked eighth and ninth in the state’s individual casino market with totals of $102.9 million and $101.7 million, respectively.
Gaming and Leisure Properties, Inc., which owns the land used to build Hollywood Casino Aurora, contributed $225 million of the $360 million to build the new property. The city of Aurora added another $21 million, leaving $114 million in outstanding costs to be covered by PENN.
While the IGB said that it will help transition the riverboat casino's business to the brick-and-mortar location as the opening date approaches, the floating facility will continue normal business operations until further notice.
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