Bally’s Chicago Contractor Claims $3.8 Million Owed for Work on Casino

_{The Chicago Tribune Freedom Center printing plant was demolished in order to build the Bally's Chicago casino. (Photo: Sipa USA / Alamy)}

MGM Excavating has filed liens against Bally’s Chicago and the Chicago Community Builders Collective (CCBC), seeking to recover more than $3.8 million the company says it is owed for work completed at the Chicago casino complex through March 2026.

The Chicago Tribune first reported on the mechanics liens on Aug. 27, noting that MGM Excavating had filed them in Cook County Circuit Court during July.

Bally’s Puts Money Issues on Contracting Partner

According to Bally’s, it owes nothing to the company. The gaming giant says it paid the money in full to the CCBC, the general contracting partner overseeing the project and directly paying the companies working on the site's construction. Instead, it is the CCBC that is withholding the payments while it conducts an accounting investigation into an unnamed company hired by a subcontractor under MGM Excavating that may not have been approved by the Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) to work on the site.

“Bally’s has fulfilled its payment obligations to CCBC, which serves as the stewards of those funds,” Bally’s said in a statement. “Any outstanding payment dispute is between CCBC and the subcontractor and does not involve an unpaid obligation by Bally’s.”

This isn’t the first time that the casino has run into construction issues involving an unapproved company working on the site. In May 2025, construction was temporarily halted after the IGB found that D&P Construction – a firm with alleged organized crime ties – was working as an unapproved vendor on the complex.

Subcontractor: ‘They Owe Us for the Work’

But MGM Excavating denies it has done anything wrong in this case. The company has worked as a contractor throughout most of the construction process at the permanent site for Bally’s Chicago, which broke ground in February 2025. The company says it was paid until March 2026, and then ceased working in April after not being paid. The CCBC disagrees, saying that it terminated the contractor.

“We are actively working to resolve a contractual matter with a former contractor and its vendors,” the CCBC said in a statement. “We remain focused on addressing the matter and moving the project forward.”

The $3.8 million figure includes $2 million owed to BBD Trucking and $700,000 owed to E. King Construction Co. (two minority-owned subcontractors hired by MGM), along with roughly $1.1 million that MGM Excavating says it's owed directly.

“We hauled away dirt, we brought in stone,” BBD Trucking Vice President Sharonda Williams told the Chicago Tribune. “The work was completed, the bills were submitted and they owe us for the work.”

The payment dispute comes at a time when Bally’s is facing allegations that its high debt load and uncertain financial future is disrupting work on Bally’s Chicago and other major projects. While Bally’s says that its decision to slow construction on non-gaming amenities related to the casino is due to Chicago’s decision to approve video gaming terminals in the city, dozens of City Council members signed on to a letter demanding the company complete its work on the entire complex.

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