Rivers Casino (Des Plaines)

Rivers Casino is a casino in Des Plaines, Illinois, United States, a northern suburb of Chicago. It is minutes away from O'Hare International Airport. Rivers Casino opened on July 18, 2011. It is majority-owned by Churchill Downs Inc., and managed by its minority owner, Rush Street Gaming.

Rivers Casino
Location	Des Plaines, Illinois, United States
Address	3000 S River Road
Opening date	July 18, 2011
Casino type	Land-based
Owner	Churchill Downs Inc. (62%) Rush Street Gaming (38%)
Public transit access	Pace
Website	riverscasino.com/desplaines

History

In 2008, the Illinois Gaming Board awarded the state's 10th and last casino license to Midwest Gaming and Entertainment LLC, a group led by Neil Bluhm,^[1] to build a 140,000-square-foot (13,000 m²) casino on approximately 21 acres (8.5 ha) adjacent to the Tri-State Tollway at the northwest corner of Devon Avenue and Des Plaines River Road. Des Plaines was awarded the gaming license in 2008. The city approved zoning in early 2010. The casino opened in July 2011 as Rivers Casino.

In 2019, Churchill Downs Inc., which owned the nearby Arlington Park racetrack, purchased a 62 percent stake in the casino from Bluhm and his partners for $407 million.^[2][3]