“The problem is Iowa is not a free-market system It’s set up to encourage big-dollar investments, so the cannibalization issue is one we have to take into consideration.” — Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission Chairman Jeff Lamberti
There you have it. When the size of an industry is decreed by the state, cannibalization is an issue that must be weighed, not shrugged off as economic Darwinism. Not one but two consulting firms — Marquette Advisors and Union Gaming — told the IRGC that there’s no more room in Iowa for new casinos. “We do not believe there are any underserved counties in Iowa,” counseled Union Gaming while Marquette Advisors warned that a $150 Linn County casino project would siphon customers from as many as five surrounding markets. (A $40 million Jefferson casino by Wild Rose Entertainment is also being pitched to the IRGC.)
The next day, as though to reinforce the point, the IRGC released February revenues and they were down 4% from 2013. Harrah’s Council Bluffs was up 13% but Penn National Gaming‘s Argosy Sioux City was down 16%. Collectively, Isle of Capri Casinos’ three properties were -4%. Far and away the top grosser for the month was Pinnacle Entertainment‘s Council Bluffs casino, incrementally up for the month.
(To its discredit, Caesars Entertainment runs a dog track. To its credit, it wants to end dog racing, as does a racino in Dubuque. The Iowa Legislature wants both to pay the greyhound industry $70 million to go somewhere else.)
Illinois could learn from Iowa’s example. February numbers were the usual depressing saga, with visitation spiraling 12% downward, somewhat offset by a 5% increase in per-visitor spend. Grand Victoria Elgin (-1%), Rivers Casino (-2%) and Harrah’s Joliet (-2%) held their ground the best. Other than Boyd Gaming‘s Par-A-Dice (-16%), the prize for underachievement went to the Penn National Gaming threesome: Alton Belle (-18%), Empress Joliet (-15%) and Hollywood Aurora (-14%). While some of the weakness can be chalked up to adverse weather, competitive pressure from slot routes cannot be discounted.
It was an apples-and-oranges month in Ohio, where escalation from three casinos and one racino to four and four meant a 66.5% increase in gross gaming revenue (mathematical ammunition for those who argue that it’s an immature market, one that is already generating almost as much as Illinois) but a 7.5% decline in same-store revenues. Both Penn National properties yielded mixed results, producing dramatically better win/slot/day from the month, which did not translate into eye-popping year-over-year bottom lines. Hollywood Columbus ($17.5 million) was still 5.5% down, while Hollywood Toledo ($15 million) was 3.5% improved. (Slot/win/day was 22.5% and 32% up, respectively, from January. Table revenues improved 18% and 33%, respectively, from January.)
Caesars Entertainment’s Horseshoe Cleveland ($17.5 million; -21%) was even more paradoxical, with slot win/day improving 24% sequentially but falling the same amount year/year. No comparisons are available for Horseshoe Cincinnati ($16.5 million), nor for Thistledown Racetrack, Hard Rocksino or Miami Valley Gaming. Scioto Downs eked out the tiniest of increases while Hard Rock was easily the highest-grossing racino, with $13 million. Three more racinos are still on the way, which means thinner and thinner slices of that Buckeye State pie, at least for now.
