{"id":859066,"date":"2024-05-12T08:33:27","date_gmt":"2024-05-12T15:33:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/?p=859066"},"modified":"2024-05-12T08:33:40","modified_gmt":"2024-05-12T15:33:40","slug":"are-the-good-times-fading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blog\/are-the-good-times-fading\/","title":{"rendered":"Are the good times fading?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Casino revenues aren’t<\/strong> quite what they used to, at least not recently. It was inevitable. The casino business has been so supercharged for so long after Covid-19<\/strong> that some customer pullback was bound to happen eventually. After all, the first law of economics is that what goes up must come down, sometime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Let’s start in Illinois<\/strong>, which has stayed aloft largely by dint of reckless expansion, more casinos creating the illusion of more revenue. In April, revenue of $137 million was 7% above last year at this time … but 5% lower on a same-store basis and 8% below pre-Covid levels. No year\/year comparison is possible for Bally’s Casino<\/strong> in Chicago<\/strong> but it slipped a bit from March, making $10.5 million last month. Despite being in the heart of the Windy City, it was but fourth in the state, incrementally behind Harrah’s Joliet<\/strong> ($10.5 million-plus, -13.5%), not to mention Grand Victoria<\/strong> ($12.5 million, -9%) and reigning champ Rivers Des Plaines<\/strong> ($42 million, -7%). At least Bally’s bested The Temporary at American Place<\/strong> ($9.5 million, +39%), despite Full House Resorts<\/strong>‘ assertions to the contrary<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Rounding out Chicagoland<\/strong> were Hollywood Joliet<\/strong> ($8 million, -8%), Hollywood Aurora<\/strong> ($8 million, -11%) and Hard Rock Rockford<\/strong> ($6 million, flat). Kudos to Penn Entertainment<\/strong> for recognizing that its two riverboats had reached the end of their utility. As the grosses show, they’re no longer very competitive. Downstate, the most pain was felt at Par-A-Dice<\/strong> ($5 million, -12%), with lesser aches being nursed by Harrah’s Metropolis<\/strong> ($5.5 million, -8.5%), Bally’s Quad Cities<\/strong> ($5 million, -9%) and DraftKings Casino Queen<\/strong> ($6.5 million, -3.5%). Alton Belle<\/strong> was the most stable ($2.5 million), while newbie Walker’s Bluff<\/strong> ($2.5 million) appears to be ramping faster than Golden Nugget Danville<\/strong> ($3 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expansion also masked<\/strong> a 7% declivity in Indiana,<\/strong> which was (on the surface) only off 1%. Compared to 2019, the Hoosier State was up 13% to $203 million. Terre Haute Casino<\/strong> debuted impressively for Churchill Downs<\/strong> with $12.5 million. Otherwise, only revamped Harrah’s Hoosier Park<\/strong> was up, hopping 2% to $17 million. Statewide leader Hard Rock Northern Indiana <\/strong>was flat with $39.5 million, besting immediate rivals Horseshoe Hammond<\/strong> ($22 million, -14%), Ameristar East Chicago<\/strong> ($15 million, -13%) and Blue Chip<\/strong> ($10.5 million, -11%). Two downstate casinos were flat: Rising Star<\/strong> ($3.5 million) and French Lick Resort<\/strong> ($6.5 million). No else was so fortunate. Varying degrees of subsidence were felt at Belterra Resort<\/strong> ($7 million, -11%), Bally’s Evansville<\/strong> ($14 million, -6%), Hollywood Lawrenceburg<\/strong> ($12 million, -10%), Caesars Southern Indiana<\/strong> ($19.5 million, -10%) and even Horseshoe Indianapolis <\/strong>($24 million, -10%).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Sports betting revenues, by contrast, leapt 26% to $37 million, on handle of $394 million (+23%). FanDuel<\/strong> was out front with $16 million. Then came DraftKings<\/strong> ($13 million), BetMGM<\/strong> ($3.5 million), Caesars Sportsbook <\/strong>($1 million) and ESPN Bet<\/strong> ($1 million). Bet365<\/strong> made $1.5 million, Fanatics<\/strong> did $1 million and BetRivers<\/strong> got lost in the shuffle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Casino winnings slumped<\/strong> 7% last month in Missouri<\/strong>, although they were still 12% above pre-pandemic levels, at $156 million. Only one casino in the state was revenue-positive: Century Casino Cape Girardeau<\/strong> did $6 million for a 5.5% gain. (Its sister property in Caruthersville<\/strong> made $4 million, down 1.5%.) Statewide leader was Ameristar St. Charles<\/strong> with $24 million (-9.5%), trailed in the St. Louis <\/strong>area by River City<\/strong> ($21 million, -4%), Hollywood St. Louis<\/strong> ($20 million, -7%) and Horseshoe St. Louis<\/strong> ($12 million, -11%). Kansas City<\/strong> was dominated by Ameristar Kansas City<\/strong> ($16 million, -8.5%), closely rivaled by Argosy Riverside<\/strong> ($14 million, -6%), Harrah’s North Kansas City<\/strong> ($13 million, -9%) and Bally’s Kansas City<\/strong> ($11 million, flat).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online sports betting continued<\/strong> to be a hit in Maryland<\/strong>, where revenue shot up 44% (to $50 million) and handle 52% ($475 million). Promotional deductions were a relatively modest $11 million. ESPN Bet<\/strong> grew its share of handle month by month by month, but not its revenue base. Its gross didn’t even reach a million bucks. Doing much better were FanDuel<\/strong> ($31 million), DraftKings<\/strong> ($12 million) and BetMGM<\/strong> ($3.5 million). Caesars Sportsbook<\/strong> was a dog, as was BetRivers<\/strong>, both of them handily outperformed by Fanatics<\/strong> ($1 million).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Jottings<\/em><\/strong>: Never at a loss for superlatives for itself, Venelazzo<\/strong> has proclaimed<\/a> that it is going to get “the largest and most expensive hotel renovation in history.” $1.5 billion, minimum, will be lavished on a thorough makeover that will include all 4,000 suites and even the beautiful logo featuring the lion of Venice<\/strong>. Is that a change being mistaken for progress. Even the sports book will get a reinvention. New restaurants will be part of the transformation but owner Apollo Management<\/strong> is keeping many of the details to itself … Leapfrogging New York City<\/strong>‘s glacial casino-selection process, Ocean Casino Resort<\/strong> will be running helicopter flights from the Big Apple to Atlantic City<\/strong>, beginning May 25. What’s the point of having a helipad<\/a> if you don’t use it? … Driftwood Capita<\/strong>l is adding a casino<\/a> to Hotel Rumbao<\/strong> in Puerto Rico<\/strong>. Don’t get carried away: It’s only a $12 million project … Bally’s Corp<\/strong>. Chairman Soo Kim<\/strong> says he is “open to” a joint-venture partner to help replace the Tropicana Las Vegas<\/strong>, in his clearest sign of desperation yet<\/a>. “Open to” is Bally’s fancyspeak for “We’re flat broke! Rescue us!” … Dave & Buster’s<\/strong> is getting into the casino business, planning to initiate gambling<\/a> at its arcades. Sheesh! Play would start at 18 years of age, which would flatly contravene many states’ 21-and-older policy. We can’t wait until this shit hits the fan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Casino revenues aren’t quite what they used to, at least not recently. It was inevitable. The casino business has been so supercharged for so long after Covid-19 that some customer pullback was bound to happen eventually. After all, the first law of economics is that what goes up must come down, sometime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83928,"featured_media":845780,"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\/2023\/11\/Medinah_temple_facade.jpg?fit=500%2C375&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859066"}],"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=859066"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":859083,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859066\/revisions\/859083"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}