Video gaming in Illinois has generated large amounts of revenue since first being rolled out in 2012. Although legal at the State-level, it is still up to each municipality to decide whether or not they permit it within their boundaries. Numerous terminal operators such as Accel Entertainment have partnered with various licensed video gaming establishments throughout the State in cities where video gaming is permitted; however, in this ever-growing industry, there are still cities that have not yet approved video gaming. The latest city to reject video gaming is Evanston.
When the vote came to Evanston City Council, it was rejected with only two out of the seven present council members being in favor of legalizing video gaming. It's unfortunate that Evanston chose not to legalize video gaming as numerous businesses could’ve become licensed video gaming establishments and generated additional revenue for themselves and the city.
Although video gaming will not be permitted in Evanston at the moment, there are always opportunities for the topic to be discussed again in the future. Afterall, one council member first brought up the idea of adding gaming to Evanston last year. Stay tuned for more information on new developments in cities considering adding video gaming.