Bally’s Bronx Locks In $560M in Financing to Continue Casino Development

_{Bally's Bronx is being developed on the site of the former Trump Links golf course, currently called Bally's Golf Links. (Photo: Associated Press / Alamy)}

The Bally’s Bronx project in New York City received a boost on Friday, when Bally’s closed on $560 million in total financing commitments to support the development of the downstate resort.

The agreement with WhiteHawk Capital Partners includes an initial round of $400 million in term loans, with commitments for an additional $160 million in delayed-draw term loans.

Further Capital Raise Needed for Bally’s Bronx

The funding will be used to pay some pre-construction costs and expenditures associated with Bally’s Bronx. In an announcement, the company said that a portion of the loaned money will also be “applied to general corporate purposes,” including paying transaction fees and expenses from the closing of the financing agreement.

Bally’s first announced that it had secured the financing on Sept. 14. At the time, Bally’s Chairman Soo Kim said it was an important step on the longer path of fully completing and financing what is expected to be a $4 billion development for the company.

“This important financing allows us to progress the pre-construction planning process so that we are ready to complete the remainder of the capital raise and remain on schedule,” Kim said at the time. “Furthermore, the additional liquidity provides us greater flexibility for other capital opportunities.”

Kim's comments came even as the company continues to manage a sizable debt load tied to its expansion plans.

Does Debt Remain a Concern for Bally’s?

The financing comes as Bally’s looks to balance its growth in major markets with the company's extreme debt load.

In August, Bally’s issued a going concern warning with its second-quarter earnings filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In the warning, Bally's reported that it had $4.51 billion in long-term debt, compared with $792.2 million in revenues for Q2 2026.

That debt load became a talking point when Bally's announced a reorganization of its construction priorities of its construction priorities for its permanent Bally's Chicago complex. While Bally’s said that it had decided to move its focus away from non-gaming amenities in response to the Chicago City Council’s decision to allow video gaming terminals in the city, some aldermen said the decision violated the Host Community Agreement between the city and Bally’s, and said that the VGT issue was an excuse to cover for the company’s cash flow issues.

Bally’s Bronx is an integrated casino project that won one of three available downstate casino licenses in New York. The facility is expected to open by 2030 with casino gaming, a 500-room hotel, an 18-hole golf course – the casino is on the site of the former Trump Golf Links, now known as Bally’s Golf Links – and a 2,000-person event center.

That 2030 timeline is similar to the plans for Metropolitan Park, the Queens-based casino project being developed by New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock. The third downstate casino license recipient, Resorts World New York City, transitioned to full casino gaming earlier this year.

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