{"id":867100,"date":"2024-10-15T09:20:48","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T16:20:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/?p=867100"},"modified":"2025-06-23T08:30:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T15:30:39","slug":"ballys-flops-other-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blog\/ballys-flops-other-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Bally’s flops & other news"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bally’s Casino<\/strong> in Chicago is a dud. A flop. Maybe not an outright debacle (although being smack in the heart of downtown, it should have been doing better) but an inarguable disappointment, one that augurs poorly for $1.2 billion Bally’s Chicago<\/strong>\u2014a Bally’s casino in name only. How do we know this? Because Hard Rock Rockford<\/strong> opened its permanent casino in August, enjoyed its first full month in September and zoomed straight past Bally’s and almost everyone else into second place in Illinois<\/strong>. That’s a staggering achievement and makes Bally’s failure to gain traction all the more stark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Statewide, casinos in the Land of Lincoln grossed $139 million, a 5% improvement on last year but 2.5% off when adjusted for same-store results. The 2019 comparison was even more out of kilter: 24.5% higher outright\u2014but 10% lower, same-store. Remember that Illinois has added five casinos since the Covid-19<\/strong> pandemic and its disruption of business. No surprise, Rivers Des Plaines<\/strong> led the state with $41.5 million, flat with 2023 but weathering the new competition awfully well. Hard Rock was next with $13.5 million, a 139% (!) improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bally’s did dramatically better this September, marking its anniversary with a 54.5% leap to a still-anemic $10 million. At least it outdid the rest of the northern tier. Harrah’s Joliet<\/strong> ($9.5 million, -11.5%) and Grand Victoria<\/strong> ($9.5 million, -23%) both felt Hard Rock’s impact. The Temporary at American Place<\/strong> also grossed $9.5 million but that was a 20% leap over the year previous. Full House Resorts<\/strong> execs can rightly spin that as a win on their next earnings call. Penn Entertainment<\/strong>‘s two ancient riverboats survived the Rockford<\/strong> debut quite well, all things considered. Hollywood Joliet<\/strong> was flat at $7.5 million and Hollywood Aurora<\/strong> ceded 1.5% to $8 million. Imagine how well they’ll perform when their new iterations come on line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grosses in the rest of the state were comparatively puny. Argosy Bell<\/strong>e slipped 6.5% to $3 million while DraftKings<\/strong> Casino Queen<\/strong> gained 4% to $6.5 million. Nobody else was revenue-positive. Par-A-Dice <\/strong>dipped 4.5% to $4.5 million. Bally’s Quad Cities<\/strong> slid 10% to $4.5 million while Harrah’s Metropolis<\/strong> plunged 14% to\u2014you guessed it\u2014$4.5 million. The novelty factor is already off Walker’s Bluff Casino<\/strong> ($2.5 million, -14.5%) and Golden Nugget Danville<\/strong> ($3 million, -10%). It was nice while it lasted.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Next door in Indiana<\/strong>, things were looking pretty good at first blush. The statewide gross ($189 million) may have been flat with 2023 but it was 9% above 2019. But back out Terre Haute Casino<\/strong> and especially Hard Rock Northern Indiana<\/strong> and those percentages flip to -6% and -13% respectively. Hard Rock lapped the field with $37.5 million, a 10% hop, while Horseshoe Hammond<\/strong> plummeted 22% to $19.5 million. Nearby Ameristar East Chicago<\/strong> slid 13.5% to $12.5 million, while Blue Chip<\/strong> tumbled 11.5% to $10 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving aside the new casino in Terre Haute<\/strong> ($11 million), only Harrah’s Hoosier Park<\/strong> was revenue-positive (+5%) with $17 million. Horseshoe Indianapolis<\/strong> galloped to $22.5 million but was down 6.5%. Full House hasn’t made any friends with its itch to pull up stakes and relocate to the Fort Wayne<\/strong> area and it had a bad month, too, with Rising<\/strong> Star<\/strong> falling 17.5% to $3 million. Feeling the revenue pinch the least was Caesars Southern Indiana<\/strong>, down 2.5% to $18 million. Bally’s Evansville<\/strong> slipped 3.5% to $13.5 million (we’ve found a market Bally’s Corp<\/strong>. can’t fuck up) and Hollywood Lawrenceburg dipped 8% to $12 million. French Lick Resort got licked all right, plunging 19.5% to $6 million, to round out the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sports betting was good for casinos, not so much for bettors, with handle up 20% ($480 million) but win climbing 29% to $53 million. DraftKings<\/strong> narrowly bested FanDuel<\/strong>, $39.5 million to $38 million. Others of consequence were BetMGM<\/strong> ($10.5 million) and Caesars Sportsbook<\/strong> ($7 million). Also in the picture was Bet365<\/strong> ($5 million), while just in sight were ESPN Bet<\/strong> ($3 million), Fanatics<\/strong> ($4 million) and BetRivers<\/strong> ($1 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It was a mixed bag<\/strong> in Missouri<\/strong>, where Hurricane Helene<\/strong> put a literal damper on gambling win. The Show-Me State was 5.5% off the 2023 pace but 7% ahead of 2019. However, the only revenue-positive casino was little Century<\/strong> Cape Girardeau<\/strong>, up 13% to $6 million. Statewide champ Ameristar St. Charles<\/strong> was nonetheless down 4% to $23.5 million. Archrival Hollywood St. Louis<\/strong> did $20 million, slipping a percentage point, while River City<\/strong> dipped 5% but hit $20.5 million. Horseshoe St. Louis<\/strong> continued to fade, with $10.5 million (-22.5%). Ameristar Kansas City<\/strong> led that market with $16.5 million (-2%) whilst Harrah’s North Kansas City<\/strong> and Argosy Riversid<\/strong>e tied with $12.5 million, -9.5% and -2% respectively. Bally’s Kansas City<\/strong> trailed with $11 million (-5.5%). Outstate, Century Caruthersville<\/strong> slipped 5% to $4 million while slots-only Mark Twain Casino<\/strong> dropped 14% to $2.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Atlantic<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

You can’t go home again<\/strong> if you’re Detroit<\/strong> and my “home” you mean 2019. Motown casinos were 10% down from that halcyon year, if 1% up over last year. MGM Grand Detroit<\/strong> led the hit parade with $47.5 million, a 6.5% upgrade. Hollywood Greektow<\/strong>n, which was doing so well, tumbled 8% to $22.5 million (17% behind 2019) while MotorCity<\/strong> was flat with $31 million. Nobody was helped by having two fewer weekend days this September, although MGM obviously wasn’t sweating it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internet gambling, by contrast, was boffo. iGaming revenues leapt 29% and OSB was up 18%. Promos took a big bite of the latter, sucking 40% out of revenue. Handle was $280 million and win was $27.5 million. FanDuel<\/strong> outstripped the competition with $11 million, trailed by DraftKings<\/strong>‘ $7.5 million. Then came BetMGM<\/strong> ($4.5 million), Fanatics <\/strong>($1 million) and ESPN Bet<\/strong> ($1 million). Caesars Sportsbook <\/strong>and BetRivers<\/strong> faded from view. iGaming brought in $280 million, dominated led by BetMGM with $48 million. FanDuel and DraftKings ($45.5 million and $41 million respectively) gave MGM Resorts International <\/strong>a good run for its money. Others in the derby were Horseshoe Casino<\/strong> ($15 million) and BetRivers<\/strong> ($13 million). Less in the picture was Hollywood Casino<\/strong> ($4 million).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

It was a veritable bonanza <\/strong>month during August in Ohio<\/strong>, where casino receipts were not only up 5% from last year but a staggering 24% from 2019. Slots-only MGM Northfield Park<\/strong> continued to own the competition, posting $27.5 million (+5%). Second-best was Hollywood Columbus<\/strong> ($23.5 million, +6%), closely followed by Jack Cleveland<\/strong> ($23 million, +2%). Neither Hard Rock Cincinnati <\/strong>($20 million, +3%) nor Hollywood Toledo<\/strong> ($19 million, +5%) fared as well as the best of the racinos, lagging Miami Valley Gaming<\/strong> ($20.5 million, +8.5%) and\u2014in the case of Toledo<\/strong>\u2014Scioto Downs<\/strong> ($19.5 million, +5%). The only revenue-negative racino or casino in the state was Hollywood Dayton<\/strong>, slipping 3% to $13 million. Jack Thistledown<\/strong> cantered 2% to $15.5 million, Hollywood Mahoning Valley<\/strong> galloped 11% to $14.5 million and even Belterra Park<\/strong> gained 9.5% to $7.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OSB brought in $46.5 million on handle of $535 million (+47%). As you can see, Dame Fortune was with the players. FanDuel<\/strong> ($17 million) and DraftKings<\/strong> ($16.5 million) prevailed, distantly challenged by Bet365 <\/strong>($4 million). Participation trophies went to BetMGM<\/strong> ($2 million), ESPN Bet<\/strong> ($2 million), Fanatics<\/strong> ($1.5 million) and Caesars<\/strong> Sportsbook<\/strong> ($1.5 million).<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

If Lady Luck favored<\/strong> players in Ohio, she liked the house better in Maryland<\/strong>, where revenue shot up 48%, to $63.5 million. Handle rose 23% to $519 million. FanDuel<\/strong> ($33 million) decisively bested the field, with DraftKings<\/strong> trailing at $20 million. BetMGM<\/strong> ($4.5 million) was a distant third, with Caesars Sportsbook<\/strong> ($1.5 million), ESPN Bet<\/strong> ($1.5 million) and Fanatics<\/strong> ($2 million) all barely in the picture, and BetRivers<\/strong> out of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brick and mortar casinos in the Free State did more than respectably with $159.5 million. That’s 3% better than last year and 12% higher than 2019. The bottom fell out of Horseshoe Baltimore<\/strong>, dropping 9% to $13 million, its leanest gross of the year. By contrast, Maryland Live <\/strong>gained 2% to $59.5 million. Of course, no one was besting MGM<\/strong> National Harbor<\/strong>‘s $67 million, a 8% surge. Ocean Downs<\/strong> was flat at $9 million, as was Hollywood Perryville<\/strong> at $6.5 million. Century Casinos <\/strong>continued to struggle with Rocky Gap Resort<\/strong>, down 8% to $4.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That’s all folks. Whew!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bally’s Casino in Chicago is a dud. A flop. Maybe not an outright debacle (although being smack in the heart of downtown, it should have been doing better) but an inarguable disappointment, one that augurs poorly for $1.2 billion Bally’s Chicago\u2014a Bally’s casino in name only. How do we know this? Because Hard Rock Rockford […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83928,"featured_media":847205,"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\/12\/Ballys_Chicago_Medinah_Temple.jpg?fit=1400%2C1114&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867100"}],"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=867100"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867100\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":888614,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867100\/revisions\/888614"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}