Ohio, Indiana slammed; Station is ‘george’

Loss of half a month in Ohio meant a 61% plunge in casino/racino revenues, to $72 million. Although there were two fewer weekend days in the month that was as nothing compared to Coronavirus. (The calendar is neutral this month, if casinos can salvage any of it.) Declines were pretty uniform so there’s no point in dwelling on them: Hollywood Toleldo $7 million (-61%), Hollywood Columbus $8.5 million (-61%), Jack Cleveland $7.5 million (-62%), Hard Rock Cincinnati $7 million (-64%), MGM Northfield Park $9.5 million (-61%), Scioto Downs $7 million (-60%), Jack Thistledown $5.5 million (-57%), Miami Valley Gaming $6.5 million (-62%), Belterra Park $3 million (-61%), Hollywood Dayton $4 million (-61%) and Hollywood Mahoning Valley $5 million (-59.5%). Better luck this month.

Matters were, no surprise, almost as bad in Indiana, where casinos closed March 16, prompting a 56% plummet. The statewide gross was $92.5 million, of which over $5 million was derived from table game win at the state’s two racinos. Indiana Grand grossed $13 million (-52%) and Harrah’s Hoosier Park won $9 million (-52%). Elsewhere the results were Horseshoe Hammond $18 million (-53.5%), Ameristar East Chicago $9 million (-62%), Blue Chip $6 million (-59%), Majestic Star I $4 million (-54%), Majestic Star II $2 million (-64%), Horseshoe Southern Indiana $9 million (-55%), Belterra $4 million (-60%), Tropicana Evansville $7 million (-56.5%), Rising Star $1.5 million (-63.5%), Hollywood Lawrenceburg $7 million (-55%) and French Lick Resort $3.5 million (-62.5%).

The closure also cut off an estimated $125 million in sports-betting handle. ($75 million in wagers were booked.) Revenue was $5.5 million, compared to February’s $12 million. “This is an unprecedented stoppage for legal sportsbooks, and there is no playbook for them to follow to help manage the crisis,” said analyst Dustin Gouker. His PlayIndiana.com estimates that the Hoosier State could have generated $50 million in March Madness bets alone. Online bettors are reduced to wagering on the WNBA and NFL drafts. “We don’t expect a lot of betting on the WNBA and NFL drafts, but we suspect that each will draw more interest than either would under ordinary circumstances,” said analyst Jessica Welman. Ameristar/DraftKings led online betting with $33 million, followed by Blue Chip/FanDuel with $26 million. Retail sports books were paced by Horseshoe Hammond’s $3.5 million and Hollywood Lawrenceburg’s $2.5 million.

* Kudos to Station Casinos for extending pay for its workforce through May 15. That includes 700 part-timers who were extended to full-time status for the duration of the program. April 30 is the nominal date for reopening of Nevada‘s casinos but we’ve yet to hear of a casino executive who takes that seriously.

* New jobless claims edged down a bit, 6.61 million compared to the previous week’s 6.87 million. The Wall Street Journal is predicting 13% unemployment by June. That would be worse than the recession of 1982 and have us heading toward Great Depression territory. (Let’s hope not.) The federal government has provided for considerable short-term relief but, reports the Boston Globe, “implementation of the rescue packages has been shambolic.” We’re hearing that a lot.