Three Edwardsville Business Owners Ask Voters to Approve Video Gaming Referendum

EDWARDSVILLE - Small business owners are urging community members to vote yes on a non-binding referendum that would allow video gambling in Edwardsville.

The General Primary Election, scheduled for March 17, 2026, will ask Edwardsville voters the following question: “Shall the city of Edwardsville allow video gambling, subject to regulations, in existing establishments with on-premises consumption of alcohol/liquor?”

For small business owners like Corey McMahan, Steve Seibert, and Ryan High, the answer is a resounding yes. The three men explained that video gaming is allowed in almost every other major town in Southern Illinois except Edwardsville, which only allows video gambling in fraternal organizations. The business owners believe that video gaming would allow them to increase their revenue, but they have advocated for strict regulations.

“It’s the survival of small business,” said Seibert, owner of Big Daddy’s. “We’re trying to keep Edwardsville dollars in Edwardsville. People in Edwardsville are leaving and going and playing these machines in other communities and spending their dollars in other communities.”

For McMahan, owner of The Club House, his business is competing with other restaurants zoned in Glen Carbon right across the street. McMahan said he has advocated for video gaming because he wants to see small businesses in Edwardsville succeed.

“Between Glen Carbon and really all the surrounding towns allowing it, it just puts us at such a big disadvantage in terms of being able to compete,” he said. “We want to be able to keep our prices low and pay our employees competitive wages. When we don’t have the types of revenue coming in that literally everyone does around us, that is a pretty big disadvantage for us.”

McMahan, Seibert and High are quick to point to the “strict” restrictions that they have worked with City Council to create. Only businesses that have had a liquor license for two years would be eligible for a gaming license. Additionally, these businesses must make at least 50% of their revenue from food and drink sales, which disqualifies gas stations.

There will be rules in place to moderate how much exterior signage is allowed, with some business owners advocating for no exterior signage advertising gaming at all. They also want to see private areas dedicated to gaming, so people who don’t want to engage with it don’t have to see the machines, and those who want to gamble can do so.

McMahan and Seibert noted that a few nearby communities are “oversaturated” with gaming establishments. With these rules, they hope to avoid this reality in Edwardsville.

“We want to uphold what Edwardsville is, which is a great town to raise a family, a great town to live, a great town to go out,” Seibert said. “By having these restrictions, we really do believe we can find a nice happy medium in keeping small businesses thriving while upholding the integrity of what this town truly is all about.”

High, owner of Global Brew, said that most of the people he has spoken to are in favor of video gaming once he explains these restrictions to them. Global Brew in O’Fallon just added video gaming to their restaurant, and High is pleased to see the revenue it is bringing in.

“We want everyone to know that there’s going to be a responsible way of going about doing this. There’s certain towns that you can go through and throw a stone and hit many locations that have gaming machines. Edwardsville won’t be that way. It’ll be more controlled. There will be more restrictions,” he said. “At the end of the day, we know that we all have brands to protect and to keep pushing forward and growing our customer base. But if we can add an extra revenue stream to help us accomplish that along the way, it’ll be very beneficial.”

The three pointed out that video gaming would also add another revenue stream to the city, which could be used to fix roads or hire firefighters and police officers. Additionally, though the vote on March 17 will guide the city’s next steps, it will likely be another year until these machines are actually in place in Edwardsville businesses as the City Council reviews the referendum and begins the process of issuing gaming licenses.

McMahan, Seibert and High encourage people to vote in the March 17 primary, noting that early voting is open now. They hope people choose to vote yes on the referendum, and they encourage people to visit their website for more FAQs about the video gaming debate.

“I think we've come up with those common sense rules that will make it be a win/win for everybody,” McMahan said. “Us Edwardsville residents and business owners and the City Council and people on the committees and the mayor, we all want it to be done right…We’ve got it in a spot that makes it make sense and won’t diminish Edwardsville in any way.”

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