Gaming board prepares to issue 10th casino license 'as quickly as possible'
With two legal victories in its pocket and estimates it is $1 billion behind in generating revenue for the state, the Illinois Gaming Board says it will move "as quickly as possible" to issue the long-dormant Emerald Casino license.
Chairman Aaron Jaffe said during a special meeting Monday that the gaming board has directed its staff to take the first preliminary step: hiring an investment banker to provide the expertise needed to make the so-called 10th license available to casino investors.
The license has been dormant since 1997, when the first in a long and complicated series of legal challenges stymied the General Assembly's intent to use that license to establish a casino in Rosemont.
Jaffe said last week's legal decisions have cleared the way to reissue the license. First, an appellate court upheld the gaming board's issuance of the license subject to revocation proceedings. Then, the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday declined to hear Emerald's appeal on having the license revoked.
Chicago attorney Robert Clifford, representing Emerald investors, insisted after last week's Supreme Court ruling that legal issues remain unresolved.
But Monday morning, Jaffe said the two court decisions have made the gaming board "victorious" in its effort to strip Emerald of the license.
Jaffe said the state has lost an estimated $1 billion in revenue because of the casino license being out of circulation for a decade.