It may be snowy this week in Chicago but the casino news is warm: Illinois gambling halls closed out 2023 with their best month of the year ($141 million). Much of this was driven by fresh product. They were up 3% from 2022 … and 14% down from 2019. But the latter number swung to -10% when adjusted to a same-store basis. Four new casinos in one year will do that.
Despite a 4% dip (due to cannibalization, surely), Rivers Des Plaines remained the big dog on the block, with a daunting $45.5 million. For convenience, it certainly outstrips Bally’s Casino in the downtown Windy City. Nevertheless, Bally’s ($8.5 million) pulled ahead of The Temporary at American Place ($8 million) and dead even with Hollywood Aurora ($8.5 million, +5%). Hollywood Joliet jumped 16% to $8 million, while Harrah’s Joliet hopped 7% to an impressive $11 million. Considering the age of the aforementioned threesome, American Place really ought to be doing better than it is. (So should Bally’s but we’ll not belabor that.) Hard Rock Rockford rounded out the northern tier by vaulting 32% to $6.5 million.
Downstate, Harrah’s Metropolis ($5 million, -2%) was a rare revenue-negative property. Par-A-Dice climbed 8% to $5.5 million and Bally’s Quad Cities shot up 16% to $5.5 million. Newbies Danville Golden Nugget and Walker’s Bluff Casino made $4 million and $3 million, respectively. In the greater St. Louis area, DraftKings Casino Queen edged up 2% to $6.5 million while Argosy Belle soared 20% to $3 million. Not a bad way to end the year.
Across the river in Missouri things were even more bounteous, with casinos generating $169 million, a 7% advance over last year and 16% higher than before the pandemic. Guests were a little more cautious in their spending (+3%) than in their foot traffic (+4.5%) but it was all to the good. Ameristar St. Charles (shown) led all comers with $26.5 million (+5%), while Hollywood St. Louis (+6%) and sister property River City (+3%) tied with $21.5 million each. Horseshoe St. Louis downtown contributed $14 million, up 7% as it continues to benefit from a rebrand.
In Kansas City, the growth of Bally’s Kansas City finally slowed a bit, up an impressive 11.5% for $12 million, but outpaced by Ameristar Kansas CIty‘s +12% and $18.5 million. None too shabby were Harrah’s North Kansas City ($15.5 million, +5.5%) and Argosy Riverside ($14 million, +4.5%). Not one casino in the Show-Me State was revenue negative. Praise be! That would include Century Caruthersville, rocketing 29.5% to $4 million, and Century Cape Girardeau, up 9% to $6 million. Isle of Capri Boonville also shared in the prosperity, up 5.5% to $8 million.
Despite a devastating strike in November, Detroit casinos bounced back, up 3% year-over-year in December. The gross was 11%. Motown casinos still haven’t recovered from the Great Pandemic, being 13% down from 2019. Still, Hollywood Greektown didn’t miss a post-walkout beat, being up 7.5% to $26 million. MGM Grand Detroit still had some mild strike malaise, slipping 1% to $50.5 million. The remaining $34.5 million went to MotorCity, for which no revenue comparison is available. Those rankings have never changed and undoubtedly never will but let’s just be happy that Detroit can support three first-tier casinos.
Also from December come OSB revenues from Maryland. The Free State saw $60 million in sports betting revenue on $542 million in handle, a 30% plunge in revenue despite high hold. $20 million went right back out to punters in free play and promos. ESPN Bet spent 157% of its win to gain an 8% share of the handle, which—like, duh—is obviously not a sustainable business model. The newcomer garnered $4 million for its troubles. The revenue leader was FanDuel ($33.5 million), handily outpacing DraftKings ($16 million). BetMGM logged in with $3.5 million, while revenue market share for Caesars Sportsbook, BetRivers and Fanatics was microscopic in all cases.
Jottings: A few years ago, a Buffalo Wild Wings commercial depicted an NFL referee fixing a game in order to send it to overtime. It wasn’t funny then and it’s now funny now, especially after Dean Blandino (former chief of NFL officiating) says zebras have been approached to throw games. Blandino says the league has sufficient safeguards to prevent a match-fixing scandal, although Detroit Lions fans might take issue. Blandino’s disclosure came on the Awful Announcing podcast, which also exposed Charissa Thompson‘s fabrication of sideline reports … Although it’s a no-brainer, Mississippi politicians are wrestling with online sports betting as a revenue fix. A $27 million tax haul is projected …
Churchill Downs‘ erstwhile Queen of Terre Haute, now simply Terre Haute Casino, is set for an April 5 debut, the announcement being made via Facebook. We note that fact simply because some casinos continue to diss social media, at their peril. (We’re looking at you, Fontainebleau Las Vegas.) The $239 million pleasure palace will throw open the doors at 10:30 a.m., offering 1,000 slots and 34 table games. Said an alert Mayor Brandon Sakbun, “You don’t have to be Secretary of Transportation to understand that an estimated 1.1 million incoming visitors may create traffic concerns” … Revenues at Harrah’s Hoosier Park ought to perk up now the $40 million in renovations are complete. It’s the largest expenditure on Hoosier Park in over five years, Caesars Entertainment says. We believe them … Despite being halfway to completion, expansion of Snoqualmie Casino won’t be done until 2025. The slow-moving project has only finished the first phase of three. A new porte cochere and parking garage were prioritized, to be followed by a convention center and then a 210-room hotel. Construction disruption has forced the Washington State casino to incept a shuttle service for employees, which is a nice by-blow …
Yet another revision of Headwaters Casino & Resort has been presented to Norfolk leadership. The fugly new design (shown) looks for all the world like an aircraft carrier. The planned marina has been quietly dropped, which could set off a contretemps with Mayor Kenny Alexander. The budget has also been downsized from $700 million to a more reasonable $500 million. Five years in the making, the Virginia project needs to break ground this year but no construction timeline has been established … Cordish Cos. has begun construction on Bossier City Live, tapping AnderCorp to build the development. The latter is already familiar with the site, having handled demolition of unmourned Diamond Jacks … Sports betting goes live in Vermont today. Operators include such familiar faces as DraftKings and FanDuel, along with newbie Fanatics … Hard Rock International is try, trying again in Kenosha, this time with a smaller casino proposal, 11 years after a previous bid was shot down by then-Gov. Scott Walker. The new proposal would cosset 1,500 slots and 55 table games, and has been approved overwhelmingly by the city council. The $360 million pitch now goes to the Kenosha County Board. Godspeed, Hard Rock.
I thought Bally’s would be doing much better than $8.5 million a month and I was obviously way off. Maybe they should reduce the table games minimums which I noticed was $25 back when I visited back in September.
Meanwhile the first Saturday night/Sunday morning in January I had problems sleeping so I drove out to Rivers Des Plaines to gamble at around 4:00 AM. As I walked around the casino I was surprised at how crowded all the table games were. I wound up at a bar having a drink and talked to someone who worked there. Henry said he had worked there for a couple of years and said that Rivers is always crowded. He also said that the city of Rosemont is next door and that since they have a 4:00 AM liquor license some bars and restaurants are open that late so both customers and employees head over to Rosemont once everything shuts down there.
The last sentence was supposed to say this:
He also said that the city of Rosemont is next door and that since they have a 4:00 AM liquor license some bars and restaurants are open that late so both customers and employees head over to Rivers once everything shuts down in Rosemont.