Bally's Lands $560M in Loans to Fund Bronx Casino Pre-Construction

Bally’s Corporation has lined up $560 million in term loans from WhiteHawk Capital Partners to begin pre-construction work on its Bally’s Bronx casino resort, financing site preparation and planning before the rest of the roughly $4 billion project’s capital stack is closed. Bally’s disclosed the deal in an 8-K filed with the SEC on September 14, showing the credit agreement was signed September 4 through its subsidiary Bally’s New York Operating Company.

Why it matters

The two-tranche structure is the developer takeaway. A $400 million closing-date term loan pairs with a $160 million delayed-draw tranche released as project costs are incurred, a live template for financing pre-construction on a big-ticket, entitlement-heavy project before senior construction debt or equity closes. The loans are senior secured against substantially all assets of Bally’s New York loan parties, at Term SOFR plus 8.50%, so the sponsor is paying a premium for the ability to keep pre-construction moving on schedule. On licensing, the risk some developers might assume here does not apply: Bally’s Bronx already holds its state casino license, approved by the New York Gaming Commission on December 15, 2025, so this financing is funding a licensed site, not a speculative one.

The numbers

The $560 million splits into a $400 million closing-date term loan and a $160 million delayed-draw term loan, both from WhiteHawk Capital Partners, carrying an 18-month maturity from initial funding. Bally’s expects the financing to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Citizens Capital Markets advised Bally’s as financial advisor, with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson as legal counsel. Chairman Soo Kim said the financing leaves the company “ready to complete the remainder of the capital raise and remain on schedule.”

What’s next

Watch for the Q3 close and for how much of the delayed-draw tranche gets pulled as pre-construction costs land, since that pace will signal how close Bally’s is to lining up the construction-phase financing Kim referenced. The deal is also a data point for the national capital-markets wire on how sponsors are structuring pre-construction debt around entitlement-secured, not-yet-shovel-ready gaming and entertainment projects.