{"id":849868,"date":"2024-01-11T10:58:55","date_gmt":"2024-01-11T18:58:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/?p=849868"},"modified":"2024-01-11T10:58:55","modified_gmt":"2024-01-11T18:58:55","slug":"midwest-buoyant-mega-jottings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blog\/midwest-buoyant-mega-jottings\/","title":{"rendered":"Midwest buoyant; Mega -Jottings"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It may be snowy<\/strong> this week in Chicago<\/strong> but the casino news is warm: Illinois<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Despite a 4% dip (due to cannibalization, surely), Rivers Des Plaines<\/strong> remained the big dog on the block, with a daunting $45.5 million. For convenience, it certainly outstrips Bally’s Casino<\/strong> in the downtown Windy City. Nevertheless, Bally’s ($8.5 million) pulled ahead of The Temporary at American Place<\/strong> ($8 million) and dead even with Hollywood Aurora<\/strong> ($8.5 million, +5%). Hollywood Joliet<\/strong> jumped 16% to $8 million, while Harrah’s Joliet<\/strong> 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<\/a> but we’ll not belabor that.) Hard Rock Rockford<\/strong> rounded out the northern tier by vaulting 32% to $6.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Downstate, Harrah’s Metropolis<\/strong> ($5 million, -2%) was a rare revenue-negative property. Par-A-Dice<\/strong> climbed 8% to $5.5 million and Bally’s Quad Cities<\/strong> shot up 16% to $5.5 million. Newbies Danville Golden Nugget<\/strong> and Walker’s Bluff Casino<\/strong> made $4 million and $3 million, respectively. In the greater St. Louis<\/strong> area, DraftKings Casino Queen <\/strong>edged up 2% to $6.5 million while Argosy Belle<\/strong> soared 20% to $3 million. Not a bad way to end the year.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Across the river<\/strong> in Missouri<\/strong> 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<\/strong> (shown<\/em>) led all comers with $26.5 million (+5%), while Hollywood St. Louis<\/strong> (+6%) and sister property River City<\/strong> (+3%) tied with $21.5 million each. Horseshoe St. Louis<\/strong> downtown contributed $14 million, up 7% as it continues to benefit from a rebrand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Kansas City<\/strong>, the growth of Bally’s Kansas City<\/strong> finally slowed a bit, up an impressive 11.5% for $12 million, but outpaced by Ameristar Kansas CIty<\/strong>‘s +12% and $18.5 million. None too shabby were Harrah’s North Kansas City<\/strong> ($15.5 million, +5.5%) and Argosy Riverside<\/strong> ($14 million, +4.5%). Not one casino in the Show-Me State was revenue negative. Praise be! That would include Century Caruthersville<\/strong>, rocketing 29.5% to $4 million, and Century Cape<\/strong> Girardeau<\/strong>, up 9% to $6 million. Isle of Capri Boonville<\/strong> also shared in the prosperity, up 5.5% to $8 million.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Despite a devastating strike<\/strong> in November, Detroit<\/strong> 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<\/strong> didn’t miss a post-walkout beat, being up 7.5% to $26 million. MGM Grand Detroit<\/strong> still had some mild strike malaise, slipping 1% to $50.5 million. The remaining $34.5 million went to MotorCity<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also from December<\/strong> come OSB revenues from Maryland<\/strong>. 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<\/strong> spent 157% of its win to gain an 8% share of the handle, which\u2014like, duh\u2014is obviously not a sustainable business model. The newcomer garnered $4 million for its troubles. The revenue leader was FanDuel <\/strong>($33.5 million), handily outpacing DraftKings<\/strong> ($16 million). BetMGM<\/strong> logged in with $3.5 million, while revenue market share for Caesars Sportsbook<\/strong>, BetRivers<\/strong> and Fanatics<\/strong> was microscopic in all cases.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Jottings<\/em><\/strong>: A few years ago, a Buffalo Wild Wings<\/strong> commercial depicted an NFL<\/strong> 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<\/strong> (former chief of NFL officiating) says zebras have been approached to throw games<\/a>. Blandino says the league has sufficient safeguards to prevent a match-fixing scandal, although Detroit Lions<\/strong> fans might take issue. Blandino’s disclosure came on the Awful Announcing<\/em> podcast, which also exposed Charissa Thompson<\/strong>‘s fabrication of sideline reports … Although it’s a no-brainer, Mississippi<\/strong> politicians are wrestling with online sports betting<\/a> as a revenue fix. A $27 million tax haul is projected … <\/p>\n\n\n

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Churchill Downs<\/strong>‘ erstwhile Queen of Terre Haute<\/strong>, now simply Terre Haute Casino<\/strong>, is set for an April 5 debut<\/a>, the announcement being made via Facebook<\/strong>. We note that fact simply because some casinos continue to diss social media, at their peril. (We’re looking at you, Fontainebleau Las Vegas<\/strong>.) 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<\/strong>, \u201cYou don\u2019t 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<\/strong> ought to perk up now the $40 million in renovations are complete<\/a>. It’s the largest expenditure on Hoosier Park in over five years, Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> says. We believe them … Despite being halfway to completion, expansion of Snoqualmie Casino<\/strong> won’t be done until 2025<\/a>. 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<\/strong> casino to incept a shuttle service for employees, which is a nice by-blow …<\/p>\n\n\n

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Yet another revision of Headwaters Casino & Resort<\/strong> has been presented to Norfolk<\/strong> leadership. The fugly new design (shown<\/em>) looks for all the world like an aircraft carrier. The planned marina has been quietly dropped<\/a>, which could set off a contretemps with Mayor Kenny Alexander<\/strong>. The budget has also been downsized from $700 million to a more reasonable $500 million. Five years in the making, the Virginia<\/strong> project needs to break ground this year but no construction timeline has been established … Cordish Cos<\/strong>. has begun construction on Bossier City Live<\/strong>, tapping AnderCorp<\/strong> to build the development. The latter is already familiar with the site, having handled demolition of unmourned Diamond Jacks<\/strong> … Sports betting goes live in Vermont<\/strong> today<\/a>. Operators include such familiar faces as DraftKings<\/strong> and FanDuel<\/strong>, along with newbie Fanatics<\/strong> … Hard Rock International<\/strong> is try, trying again in Kenosha<\/strong>, this time with a smaller casino proposal, 11 years after a previous bid was shot down by then-Gov. Scott Walker<\/strong>. The new proposal would cosset 1,500 slots and 55 table games, and has been approved overwhelmingly<\/a> by the city council. The $360 million pitch now goes to the Kenosha County Board<\/strong>. Godspeed, Hard Rock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83928,"featured_media":849869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1728],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/Chicago.jpg?fit=2121%2C1414&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849868"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83928"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}