What to say about Indiana? Let’s start with the good news. Sports books generated $313 million in handle and kept $24 million. 84% of the handle—$263 million—was online. DraftKings/Ameristar East Chicago was in front with $113 million, followed by FanDuel/Blue Chip‘s $78 million, BetMGM/Belterra Resort‘s $41 million, then at a considerable distance PointsBet/Hollywood Lawrenceburg with $11.5 million and BetRivers/French Lick Resort with $10.5 million. Also in the picture was William Hill/Tropicana Evansville with $4 million in handle, with a quartet of also-rans that included two Horseshoe Hammond skins that generated $2 million-plus between them. Horseshoe was more fortunate with walk-up betting, getting $7 million in action, behind Hollywood Lawrenceburg ($12 million) and Ameristar ($9.5 million).
Observed PlayUSA analyst Dustin Gouker, “The first full year of operation for Indiana’s sports betting industry was anything but normal, but ultimately it managed to steady itself and end the year on a roll. The state faced a pandemic that shuttered retail sportsbooks, a shutdown of major sports for four months, and a record-setting sports betting launch in neighboring Illinois that siphoned off a key market for the state. But sportsbooks were creative in their perseverance, and it paid enormous dividends as the year went on.” They may have competition soon. State Sen. John Ford has introduced legislation to legalize i-poker and other Internet casino games, projecting that it could generate between $45 million and $60 million in annual tax revenue. Not only is this considered a more stable revenue stream but, Gouker says, “The states where both are legal, online casinos games tend to dwarf sports betting in terms of both revenue and the money wagered.”
As for terrestrial casino gambling, the news was not so good. Revenues fell 20.5%, much like those in neighboring Ohio. Table games at two racinos added a $5 million boost, for a statewide gross of $148 million. Boyd had a catastrophic month, plummeting 41% at Blue Chip ($8 million) and 45.5% at Belterra ($4.5 million). Horseshoe Hammond was tops in the state with $33 million (-3.5%), followed by Ameristar East Chicago’s $17.5 million (-8%). The two Majestic Star boats grossed $7 million and $3 million respectively, down 2.5% and 35%, a strange disparity. In the southern tier all the results were pretty dire, with French Lick clocked 39% (to $5 million), Tropicana Evansville falling 30% (to $8.5 million) and Caesars Southern Indiana suffering a 30% misfortune (for $16 million). Indiana Grand slid 16% to $18 million and Harrah’s Hoosier Park -23% to $12 million. Rising Star slipped 14% to $3 million and Hollywood Lawrenceburg was set back 18% to $12 million, closing out a year we would all prefer to forget.
Our Atlantic City bureau reports that the bidding on the rights to push the button to implode derelict Trump Plaza has reached $175,000. The size of the offer leads some to believe that a celebrity (Arnold Schwarzenegger maybe?) is behind it. A push to get discarded Trump mistress Stormy Daniels to pull the trigger stalled out at $1,935. That’s a lot better than a GoFundMe drive to have Hillary Clinton do it. Only $100 were chipped in for HillRod. The implosion date has been pushed back from Jan. 29 to “sometime in February,” giving Mayor Marty Small a chance to raise even more moolah.
Jottings: Penn National Gaming‘s era on the Las Vegas Strip will end in an ignominious retreat. It has put the operational rights to the Tropicana Las Vegas on the market, as part of a larger effort to shop the venerable property. Owner Gaming & Leisure Properties must be desperate, as it hasn’t placed an asking price on the Trop. Eighteen potential buyers have kicked the Trop’s tires, although some of those offers may not be very solid. Bally’s Corp. and Tilman Fertitta are mooted to be possible shoppers, although Tilman doesn’t have a pot to pass water in these days … Phoenix Magazine has published a guide to area casinos. The three that get top marks are Talking Stick Resort, Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino and Vee Quiva Hotel & Casino … Gaming expert Frank Legato has published a fascinating interview with Barstool Sports CEO Erika Nardini. She provides many insights into how a blog evolved into a nascent sports-betting power and what lies ahead … Unaffordable living standards in California are spurring young and old to pull up stakes and move elsewhere. Among the cities benefiting from the exodus are casino-rich Las Vegas and Scottsdale … Exacta Systems founder Ray Reid is leaving the CEO position, to be replaced by Jeremy Stein. The latter has been second-in-command at Exacta since 2015. The turnover occurs shortly after Exacta’s ‘historical racing machines’ were deemed unconstitutional in Kentucky. The company is working on a fix … Global Gaming Business has republished an interview with the late Sheldon Adelson. In it, he talks about “synergistically” marrying Sands Expo Center with the casino business, why he found Singapore so attractive, why he passed on home status Massachusetts (“rife with opportunity for corruption”) and reveals—this was 2013, after all—his hypocritical opposition on online gambling, although he was right-on in his prediction that i-poker would be “peanuts.”
New CDC guidelines on the Covid vaccine distribution are an exponential improvement, the only path forward for all the casinos and the entire hospitality industry is vaccination, this open/closed circular exercise does zero to get to the root of the problem. Roll up your sleeves, the vaccines are safe, free, and they represent a “normal” future.