Illinois Video Gaming Revenue Just Topped $3 Billion a Year — What’s Driving the Growth

Illinois has quietly built the largest video gaming terminal (VGT) market in the country, and the numbers keep climbing. Statewide net terminal income grew from roughly $1.1 billion in 2016 to an estimated $3.19 billion in 2025 — nearly tripling in less than a decade, even after accounting for the pandemic-driven dip in 2020. That trajectory puts Illinois VGTs ahead of many regional casino markets, and it’s a big part of why bars, restaurants, and taverns across the state increasingly treat their gaming terminals as a core piece of the business rather than a side hustle.

The growth isn’t just about more locations opening. The average licensed video gaming location in Illinois now generates close to $365,000 a year in gross terminal revenue, which is split between the location, the terminal operator, and state and local government under Illinois’ revenue-sharing structure. For a tavern or restaurant operator, that’s a meaningful, recurring revenue stream on a predictable schedule — something the rest of the hospitality business, with its seasonal swings and thin margins, doesn’t always offer.

Illinois’ commercial casinos are seeing similar momentum. The state’s casinos posted $173.6 million in revenue in June alone, up 9.1% year-over-year, according to Illinois Gaming Board figures reported by CDC Gaming — with slot machines contributing the bulk of that total and table games up double digits as well. Rivers Casino led the pack for the month, and several properties posted double-digit growth, a sign that overall gaming demand in Illinois is still expanding rather than simply shifting between formats.

For terminal operators and location owners, a few things are worth watching as this market matures:

Terminal counts are still being negotiated location by location, since Illinois’ Baseline Terminal Count structure determines how many machines are actually installed and serviced at a given site. Win-per-unit (WPU) — the average daily revenue per terminal — varies widely by location type and foot traffic, and remains the best predictor of what a new placement will actually earn. And as the terminal-operator field consolidates, service reliability and payout speed are becoming bigger differentiators than headline revenue splits.

The bottom line: Illinois’ VGT market isn’t a novelty anymore — it’s a multi-billion-dollar, still-growing part of the state’s hospitality economy.

Source: Illinois Gaming Board monthly revenue reports; CDC Gaming, July 2026.