Conservative Group Suing Bally’s, Chicago Over Minority Investment Program

^{Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim leads a groundbreaking at the Chicago Tribune space where his company is building their new casino. They’ve been sued by two men who believe they were unfairly excluded from taking part. (Image: Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)}

The American Alliance for Equal Rights, a conservative activist group, filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday over a minority investment program for Bally’s Chicago that allowed only women, people of color, and other “socially disadvantaged” groups to participate in a $250 million initial public offering in December.

The Alliance filed the lawsuit on behalf of two white men from Texas who were “excluded from the table solely based on immutable characteristics,” according to the suit. 

Host Community Required 25% Minority Ownership

The lawsuit names Bally’s, the city of Chicago, and members of the Illinois Gaming Board as defendants. The Alliance filed the lawsuit in US District Court in Chicago. 

In 2019, Illinois passed a law that authorized a casino in Chicago. That law required any licensee in the city to make “best efforts” to have a quarter of the casino ownership held by individuals from diverse backgrounds. Bally’s expounded on that rule in its host community agreement with Chicago, which requires 25 percent of equity in the casino to be owned by “minority individuals and minority-owned and controlled businesses.”

The lawsuit argues that the two men, Richard Fisher and Phillip Aronoff, have been excluded from investment based on race.

“[Fisher and Aronoff] are interested in and able, ready, and willing to invest in Bally’s Chicago, Inc., but they cannot because of their race,” the lawsuit says. “This race-based stock offering is illegal, and this court should declare it as such.”

While local elected officials have commented on the lawsuit as of yet, Bally’s appeared to be aware of the danger of such actions when it issued the initial public offering. A preliminary prospectus for the program warned that it could result in lawsuits, and said those suits could damage the casino project.

“If any person were to bring such a lawsuit against us, we could incur substantial costs defending the lawsuit and the time and attention of our management would be diverted from our business and operations,” the prospectus read.

Bally’s also warned that a finding that the minority-ownership programs were unconstitutional could potentially invalidate the host community agreement between the company and Chicago. For now, however, the firm says it is only following through on its agreements.

“Bally’s has a binding Host Community Agreement with the City of Chicago to build what will be the best regional casino in the country,” the company said in a statement. “Bally’s honors its commitments.”

Bally’s Chicago Moving Forward Despite Financial Concerns

The Bally’s Chicago casino project has faced a number of setbacks, many related to the financial backing for the $1.7 billion facility. In 2024, the company acknowledged that there was an $800 million funding gap between what it had raised and what it needed to complete the casino, though Bally’s said in July that it had secured $940 million in additional funding to ensure construction would be completed. 

Currently, Bally’s is running a temporary casino at Medinah Temple in Chicago. In August, demolition began at the former Chicago Tribune press building in River West, where Bally’s plans to have its permanent casino running by late 2026.

The lawsuit against the Bally’s program comes at a time when the Trump administration has taken a hardline stance against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in both the federal government and private businesses. That policy was cited by Dan Lennington, deputy counsel for the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, which is representing the Alliance in this case.

“We will not stop until DEI, affirmative action, and other forms of racial discrimination are eliminated everywhere,” Lennington said in a statement. “With the Trump Administration’s new direction on racial equality at the federal level, the focus will now shift to states, local governments, and private companies that persist in unlawful discrimination.”