Bally’s Corporation tops Chicago’s 2025 lobbying ledger: lobbyists reported receiving $1,125,113 from it across their quarterly filings — more compensation than was reported against any other client name in the city’s mandatory disclosures. SSP America follows at $800,000 and the Chicago Public Education Fund at $384,000, and the ten clients below account for $4.2 million of the $25.6 million filed for 2025 periods — 16 percent, spread across 1,122 distinct client accounts. Every figure is as filed: a client’s total is our sum of what its lobbyists reported receiving, subject to one ambiguity the file cannot resolve — identical amounts co-filed by multiple lobbyists, bounded at $2.5 million citywide for 2025 and left in, never subtracted, per the full analysis. The ledger records pay, not influence: nothing here says what any engagement sought or achieved, and this page takes no position on any client or filer.
1. BALLY’S CORPORATION — $1,125,113
Filings naming Bally’s Corporation as the client reported $1,125,113 in compensation for 2025 periods. The name above appears exactly as filed in the register; the figure is our sum of those filings, with nothing adjusted or excluded.
2. SSP AMERICA, INC. — $800,000
Filings naming SSP America as the client reported $800,000 in compensation for 2025 periods. The name above appears exactly as filed in the register; the figure is our sum of those filings, with nothing adjusted or excluded.
3. CHICAGO PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND — $384,000
Filings naming the Chicago Public Education Fund as the client reported $384,000 in compensation for 2025 periods. The name above appears exactly as filed in the register; the figure is our sum of those filings, with nothing adjusted or excluded.
4. FULTON MARKET SUITES, LLC — $370,000
Filings naming Fulton Market Suites as the client reported $370,000 in compensation for 2025 periods. The name above appears exactly as filed in the register; the figure is our sum of those filings, with nothing adjusted or excluded.
5. SPOTHERO, INC. — $300,000
Filings naming SpotHero as the client reported $300,000 in compensation for 2025 periods. The name above appears exactly as filed in the register; the figure is our sum of those filings, with nothing adjusted or excluded.
6. UBER TECHNOLOGIES, INC. — $248,979
Filings naming Uber Technologies as the client reported $248,979 in compensation for 2025 periods. The name above appears exactly as filed in the register; the figure is our sum of those filings, with nothing adjusted or excluded.
7. KATTEN MUCHIN ROSENMAN LLP — $240,000 (tie)
Filings naming Katten Muchin Rosenman as the client reported $240,000 in compensation for 2025 periods. The name above appears exactly as filed in the register; the figure is our sum of those filings, with nothing adjusted or excluded.
8. BRE 312 OWNER LLC AND BRE RIVER NORTH POINT OWNER LLC — $240,000 (tie)
Filings naming the paired BRE 312 and BRE River North Point owner LLCs as the client reported $240,000 in compensation for 2025 periods. The name above appears exactly as filed in the register; the figure is our sum of those filings, with nothing adjusted or excluded.
9. SIGNATURE FLIGHT SUPPORT INT — $240,000 (tie)
Filings naming Signature Flight Support as the client reported $240,000 in compensation for 2025 periods. The name above appears exactly as filed in the register; the figure is our sum of those filings, with nothing adjusted or excluded.
10. RELATED MIDWEST — $231,500
Filings naming Related Midwest as the client reported $231,500 in compensation for 2025 periods. The name above appears exactly as filed in the register; the figure is our sum of those filings, with nothing adjusted or excluded.
Questions these numbers can answer
Who pays the most for lobbying in Chicago? By reported compensation in the 2025 filings, Bally’s Corporation — $1,125,113, ahead of SSP America’s $800,000. Bally’s also led the 2026 filings as retrieved August 12, at $578,928.
How much do Chicago lobbyists get paid altogether? Filings for 2025 periods total $25.6 million from 1,122 distinct client accounts — and the first half of 2026 already holds $15.0 million, the largest first half in a file that opens in 2014.
What do lobbying payments buy? The file does not say. Chicago requires lobbyists to disclose what clients paid them, quarterly — not what was lobbied for, which officials were contacted, or any outcome. These are compensation records, nothing more.
Where these numbers come from
The City of Chicago’s Lobbyist Data — Compensation file (dw2f-w78u), 40,968 quarterly filings with periods from 2014 into mid-2026, retrieved August 12, 2026. A client’s figure sums every filing naming it for 2025 periods, as filed — variant spellings of the same organization are never folded, so totals are floors. The full ledger, the record first half of 2026, and the co-filing bound: Chicago’s Lobbying-Pay Ledger Since 2014: the $15.0 Million First Half of 2026 Is Its Largest.
Computed by KCM Desk from records retrieved August 12, 2026. If you spot an error, corrections come first.