{"id":892265,"date":"2025-08-13T11:58:10","date_gmt":"2025-08-13T18:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/?p=892265"},"modified":"2025-08-13T11:58:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T18:58:15","slug":"monitoring-the-midwest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/blog\/monitoring-the-midwest\/","title":{"rendered":"Monitoring the Midwest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It’s been two days since Hollywood Joliet<\/strong> opened and the reviews are in<\/a>. Suffice it to say that Wall Street<\/strong> is raving about what Penn Entertainment<\/strong> accomplished on a mere $185 million. (One analyst even likened the finished product to Durango Resort<\/strong> in terms of quality.) It will be October before we know how much of a sparkplug it will prove to be, but solid business should (thanks to superior access) solidify into something quite a bit more. After all, Joliet<\/strong> hasn’t seen a new casino in 30 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The bigger question is where it will gobble up business in a Chicagoland<\/strong> marketplace that has seen multiple new-casino openings in the last couple of years. It probably can’t claw back business from Wind Creek Southland<\/strong> but other ‘burbs might have cause for worry. Chicago<\/strong>-area denizens will have even less reason to go downtown in search of a gambling fix, reminding us of the folly of pinning so many hopes on Bally’s Corp<\/strong>., whose ability to finish $1.7 billion white elephant Bally’s Chicago<\/strong> is still in some doubt on The Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with some changeover in the Joliet market, Illinois still had a very good July, with $167.5 million taken by casinos. That’s a 23% vault … or still-impressive 8.5% jump when Wind Creek and Fairmount Park<\/strong> are removed from the equation. Don’t read anything into the 44% slump at old Hollywood Joliet ($4 million), as it closed earlier to facilitate the move to Hollywood Joliet 2.0. Fairmount Park didn’t make a dent in anybody, grossing just $1 million for the month. With so many full-service casinos in the Land of Lincoln, do racinos even meet a need?<\/p>\n\n\n

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

The reigning champ, Rivers Des Plaines<\/strong>, rose 6% to $44 million, while Wind Creek (too new for % comparisons) did $19 million. Hard Rock Rockford<\/strong> shot up 114% and past Grand Victoria <\/strong>($12 million, 8.5%) with $13 million and third place in the state. Instead of picking up business from old Hollywood, Harrah’s Jolie<\/strong>t actually slipped 2.5% to $10.5 million. That was the only apples-to-apples decline in the state. The Temporary at American Place<\/strong>, in Waukegan<\/strong>, went on a tear, up 22% to $11 million. Nor did due-for-replacement Hollywood Aurora<\/strong> slouch, up 8% to $9.5 million. Bally’s Casino<\/strong> downtown gained a percentage point, grossing $10.5 million. If that’s the kind of revenue to be made in the heart of Chicago<\/strong>, the permanent Bally’s is going to have a devil of a time making its nut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Peoria<\/strong>, the city fathers want Boyd Gaming <\/strong>to either fish or cut bait. Build a permanent casino, they say, or get out of town. Nevertheless, business at Par-A-DIce<\/strong> ticked up 2% to $5 million last month. Bally’s Quad Cities<\/strong> jumped 10% to $6 million while Harrah’s Metropoli<\/strong>s hopped 3% to $5 million. Walker’s Bluff Casino<\/strong> leapt 8% to $3 million, while Golden Nugget Danville<\/strong> also made $3 million on a 6% improvement. DraftKings Casino Queen<\/strong> erupted 12% to $7.5 million whilst Argosy Alton<\/strong> was flat at $3 million. So not a bad month, really, for anybody except Harrah’s Joliet. Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> might want to look into that, especially with a new casino in town.<\/p>\n\n\n

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

Next door,<\/strong> in the Hoosier State, things were less volatile. Gambling revenues were only up 1.5%, on a gross of $209 million. Wind Creek Southland<\/strong> continued to cut into northern Indiana<\/strong> revenues. Even Hard Rock Northern Indiana<\/strong> was flat at a state-leading $37 million. Ameristar East Chicago<\/strong> fell 12% to $12.5 million, as Horseshoe Hammond<\/strong> slid 5% to $19 million. Michigan<\/strong>-facing Blue Chip<\/strong>, meanwhile, gained 2% to reach $12 million. As for the Indianapolis<\/strong>-area racinos, they both galloped 9% ahead. Horseshoe Indianapolis<\/strong> made $29 million while Harrah’s Hoosier Park<\/strong> got by with $21.5 million. Still, Caesars Entertainment<\/strong> is in no hurry to share the Indianapolis market with Full House Resorts<\/strong>. The latter is in full Br’er Rabbit<\/strong> mode, pleading with Caesars not to throw it into the briar patch (Fort Wayne<\/strong>) that it actually covets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gaining 9%, Terre Haute Casino<\/strong> squirreled away $12.5 million and French Lick Resort<\/strong> took a 9.5% licking, falling to $7 million. Bally’s Evansville<\/strong> was flat at $14.5 million, Belterra Resort<\/strong> was up 3.5% to $7 million and Rising Star<\/strong> rose 22% to $4 million. Hollywood Lawrenceburg<\/strong> was up 5% to $13 million and tribal Caesars Southern Indiana<\/strong> suffered a rare slippage, down a point to $20 million. Hoosier sports betting was good for $34.5 million on handle of $285 million, for a tight 12% hold. DraftKings<\/strong> bested FanDuel<\/strong>, $12.5 million to $11 million. BetMGM<\/strong> garnered $3 million and Caesars Sportsbook<\/strong> did $2.5 million. ESPN Bet<\/strong> split $3 million with Fanatics<\/strong> (due to a shared license), while BetRivers<\/strong> and Bet365<\/strong> did the same with $2.5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n

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

More-volatile results were<\/strong> to be had in Missouri<\/strong>, up 8% to $167.5 million. Foot traffic grew 3% while spending increased 5%. Little Century Caruthersville<\/strong> continued to outperform the state, vaulting 32% to $5 million. Sister property Century Cape Girardeau<\/strong> was much less spectacular, flat at $6 million. Only Bally’s Kansas City<\/strong> was revenue-negative, slipping 5% to $11 million. It lost ground to Harrah’s North Kansas City<\/strong> ($14.5 million, 14%), Argosy Riverside<\/strong> ($13.5 million, 2%) and Ameristar Kansas City<\/strong> (pictured<\/em>, $17.5 million, 4%). St. Louis<\/strong> was led by Ameristar St. Charles<\/strong>, out in front with $25.5 million, up 6%. River City<\/strong> ($22 million, 7.5%) fought to a standstill with sister property Hollywood St. Louis<\/strong> ($22 million, 7%), while Horseshoe St. Louis<\/strong> leapt to $14.5 million, a 21% jump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See you Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been two days since Hollywood Joliet opened and the reviews are in. Suffice it to say that Wall Street is raving about what Penn Entertainment accomplished on a mere $185 million. (One analyst even likened the finished product to Durango Resort in terms of quality.) It will be October before we know how much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83928,"featured_media":892036,"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\/2025\/08\/Hollywood-Joliet.jpg?fit=1000%2C666&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892265"}],"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=892265"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892265\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":892269,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/892265\/revisions\/892269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/892036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=892265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=892265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=892265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}