Report: Illinois pushes Hawthorne, FanDuel to build casinos

Saying the public is “being disappointed,” the head of the Illinois Gaming Board encouraged racetrack management from Hawthorne and FanDuel on Thursday to hasten the process of opening casinos four years after they were authorized to build them.

“The public expects that the statute would be fulfilled, and they’re going to have the benefit of this facility, and they’re being disappointed,” chairperson Charles Schmadeke said at an IGB meeting, first reported by BloodHorse and confirmed in an audio recording of the meeting. “The state of Illinois and other taxing bodies don’t get the benefits from us granting this approval.”

For its part, Hawthorne has had closed door meetings with the IGB to discuss accelerated financing on the casino project while maintaining Chicagoland's lone horse racing presence.

“We’ll continue to work with both applicants to make sure that these projects move as fast as the applicants are ready to move,” IGB administrator Marcus Fruchter said, according to BloodHorse. “Certainly the IGB will continue to work to make sure these important projects get opened in an expeditious and compliant manner.”

As part of a bill that expanded Illinois gambling in 2019, the IGB gave Hawthorne in Stickney and FanDuel near St. Louis a preliminary green light to build casinos.

In the mean time, both have conducted Thoroughbred racing with Hawthorne expected to begin its 78-day meeting on Saturday, March 23.