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Bally's CFO Mira Mircheva resigns amid cash crunch, $4.5 billion debt

As mounting financial pressure builds, Bally's CFO Mira Mircheva is stepping down from her role. See Mircheva's replacement and how the company plans to turn things around.

ByJeremy Olson·Updated: Sep 08, 2026 2:57PM ET·3 min read

Bally's CFO Mira Mircheva informed the company last week that she was resigning from her position. Mircheva cited "personal reasons" while vacating a role she's held at Bally's Corporation for more than a year. She has agreed to stay on and help with transitioning the position through Sept. 30.

Mircheva became Bally's CFO last year after a February merger with hedge fund Standard General. She served in the same role for Standard General affiliate Queen Casino & Entertainment from 2023 to 2025 before the merger.

She's leaving Bally's amid a cash crunch and rising debts. The company recently issued a warning to investors about its current financial situation, highlighting its struggles to meet debt terms.

Bally's is currently building a $1.7 billion casino resort in downtown Chicago, a project that has proven costly. While the casino remains on track to be completed by early 2027, it has propelled the company's debts to $4.5 billion.

While Bally's operates 19 land-based casinos and offers real money online slots in several states, it's still not generating enough cash to comfortably cover debt payments.

As reported by CFO Dive, Mircheva's replacement will be longtime Bally's executive Greg Papanier. The current President of Bally's, Papanier has already filled in as interim CFO, CEO, and COO. This will be his second stint temporarily serving as CFO.

Bally's covered Papanier's experience in a press release:

"Mr. Papanier brings over 40 years of gaming industry experience and deep financial experience to the position. A Certified Public Accountant, he has served as President of Bally's land-based casino operations since October 2021. He previously served as the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer from February 2011 to October 2021, after joining Bally's as Chief Operating Officer in 2004, and served as the interim Chief Financial Officer for Bally's in 2023."

In the same press release, Bally's Corporation CEO Robeson Reeves thanked Mircheva for her time with the company:

"On behalf of the entire Board and executive management team, I want to thank Mira for her dedication to Bally's, and we wish her great success going forward. Having spent more than two decades in key operating and financial leadership roles at Bally's, George has been instrumental in developing our business model, asset portfolio, and growth strategy. He steps into the interim role supported by an experienced finance organization, and I am confident that our reporting, controls and capital markets work will continue without disruption."

To help solve its current liquidity crunch, Bally's plans to sell assets, improve debt financing, and generate more cash. It has been operating at a loss over the past few quarters, including a net loss of $163.9 million in Q2. Completing the Chicago casino on schedule could help shore up losses and improve liquidity.

With its Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey online casinos, Bally's should continue to benefit from iGaming. The company improved from $170.3 million to $213.3 million in "interactive revenue" from 2024 to 2025.

Assuming Bally's experiences another year of positive growth from offering online casino games for real money, it could improve its cash flow.

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Written by Jeremy Olson

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