That’s the verdict of Deutsche Bank analyst Carlo Santarelli, who reports that foot traffic at Indiana casinos was 11% down last month, implying a 7% spending increase. If free play is counted, casino revenues fell 5%, with the southern tier of properties having the worst of it (-8.5%). Only Full House Resorts‘ Rising Sun ($4 million) stood off Ohio competition, growing revenues 12% ($13 million). At the opposite end of the spectrum was Penn National Gaming‘s Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg ($13 million), down 16%. Belterra ($8 million) slipped 5%, while Horseshoe Southern Indiana ($20 million) took an 8.5% dive. Slot routes in Illinois may be cutting into business at reliable old Casino Tropicana ($10 million), in Evansville, which had a rare, 5% decrease.
Further upstate, French Lick Casino ($6 million) had a good month, up 10%, while the Hoosier State’s racinos performed divergently. Indiana Downs ($18 million) had a 2% gain but Hoosier Park ($14 million) was 5% off the pace.
In the northern tier, Pinnacle Entertainment had a disastrous month at Ameristar East Chicago, down 19% on revenue of $16 million. Contrary to what you might expect, Caesars Entertainment‘s Horseshoe Hammond ($33 million) was not the beneficiary of Pinnacle’s misfortune, being 5.5% down itself. Majestic Star I ($7 million) eked out a 1% increase but its sister ship, Majestic Star II ($5 million) was 6% down. There really is at least one riverboat too many in the Gary market. Finally, over in Michigan City, it was a robust month for Boyd Gaming, whose Blue Chip casino grossed $13 million, for a 9% increase.
Full House did a pretty out of the box thing and temporarily “re branded” their Rising Sun casino as the “Christmas Casino”. It looks like some new ideas at that company are working! Kudos to them.