When the Chicago Bears struck a deal to purchase the 326-acre Arlington Park for a new stadium, Churchill Downs placed a deed restriction which barred the team from opening a casino that would compete with the racing giant’s Rivers Casino in Des Plaines.
The Daily Herald acquired transfer documents that confirm the team cannot open a land-based casino at the former track.
However, the covenant is believed to be in conflict with a 2021 Arlington Heights village ordinance which wanted to keep gambling options open. The village ordinance banned restrictive covenants for 11 types of gambling permitted under municipal code, including “gambling games conducted on riverboats.”
A 2019 state gambling expansion law removed the requirement for casinos to be located on water. The part of the village code that deals with gambling predated the state law. The question is whether the village can retroactively redo the old code to prohibit a land-based casino.
The Bears deal closed February 15. Meanwhile, Churchill Downs controls a 61 percent stake in Rivers Casino.
Churchill CEO Bill Carstanjen signed off on the restrictions which remain in place for a minimum of 15 years, as long as Churchill maintains a minimum 20 percent stake in a casino within a 30 mile radius of Arlington Park. Once Churchill Downs interest declines below 20 percent, the covenant expires in two years.
The contract, while preventing a casino, permits a sports betting lounge. The Bears convinced the village board last November to alter the overlay zoning district, so it permits a sportsbook.
Bears President and CEO at the time, Ted Phillips, said last September a casino was not in the cards as part of a $5 billion redevelopment plan.
The return of live thoroughbred horse racing is also absent in the plans, but fans are holding out in the hope that that changes.
Arlington Heights Village Manager Randy Recklaus said the goal when the May 2021 ordinance passed was to eliminate any covenants on horse racing.
“We’re comfortable with the ordinance as written,” Recklaus told the Herald. “Our goal was really to keep Churchill Downs from permanently eliminating the possibility of horse racing.”
