Although Indiana casinos have posted revenue declines for 22 consecutive months and June gaming revenue was down 3.5 percent to 9.7 million,
analysts believe the downward trend is leveling off.
But in southern Indiana, industry officials said Caesars Entertainment’s Horseshoe Cincinnati is taking a toll on revenue at riverboat casinos, where casino revenue fell 10.9 percent to $64.3 million. Chicagoland casino revenue decreased 7.7 percent to $79.1 million.
Pinnacle Gaming’s legacy riverboat Belterra, located 30 miles east of Cincinnati, showed early signs of a comeback from June 2013 to June 2014. In addition, one year ago, the company acquired Ameristar, which added East Chicago to its Indiana holdings. Including those two properties, Pinnacle’s revenue was flat at $26.5 million, according to Indiana Gaming Commission figures.
Revenues at Penn National Gaming’s Lawrenceburg riverboat casino, also located 30 miles east of Cincinnati, fell 25.2 percent from June 2013 to June 2014, and 8 percent from May to June. At Boyd’s Blue Chip, numbers were off by 2.2 percent year-to-year to $13.1 million. Caesars Entertainment’s combined Indiana properties reported revenue drops of 5.4 percent to $56 million.
