{"id":3988,"date":"2010-07-08T11:57:26","date_gmt":"2010-07-08T19:57:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=3988"},"modified":"2012-07-13T13:59:28","modified_gmt":"2012-07-13T21:59:28","slug":"around-the-horn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/around-the-horn\/","title":{"rendered":"Around the horn"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iowa<\/strong>‘s casino revenues last month were nearly the textbook definition of “flat”: up a tenth of a percent, the first revenue-positive month since February 2009. (Hey, growth is growth. We’ll take it.) The drag anchor on revs was Harrah’s Entertainment<\/strong>, whose Council Bluffs<\/strong> casino suffered a 15% plunge<\/a>. Without going heavily into detail, Isle of Capri Casinos<\/strong> eked out a 1% increase across its four Hawkeye State properties. The really good news came from Ameristar Casinos<\/strong>, which took a chunk out of Harrah’s butt in Council Bluffs, its revenues up 7%. Likewise, Penn National Gaming<\/strong> had a 4% increase in Sioux City. For sheer dollar volume, however, the Harrah’s Horsehoe<\/strong> racino is still tops at nearly $16 million (albeit with rival Prairie Meadows<\/strong> nipping at its heels).<\/p>\n

\"\"Ameristar didn’t do<\/strong> quite so well in Indiana<\/strong>, where its revenues continue to be attenuated by a bridge closure in the East Chicago<\/strong> area. Boyd Gaming<\/strong>‘s Blue Chip<\/em> riverboat (-7%) continues to feel the effect of new tribal competition in Michigan<\/strong>. The two Majestic Star<\/em> boats notched gains in the 3%-4% range but nobody managed more than a very, very<\/em> distant second-place finish to Harrah’s Horseshoe Hammond<\/em>, a real category killer that pulled in a gargantuan $43 million (+8%).<\/p>\n

Penn’s Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg<\/strong> doesn’t dominate southern Indiana quite as much but its $36 million — a 24% gain — still makes it a big man on campus. The rival Horseshoe boat (formerly Caesars Indiana<\/strong>) slipped 10.5%\u00a0 and Grand Victoria<\/em> faded 22%. French Lick<\/strong> is, well, licked at $6.2 million, easily the lowest-grossing casino in the state and Pinnacle Entertainment<\/strong>‘s Belterra<\/strong> continues to fall back into the pack, -6% last month ($11.5 million). Both racinos posted modest gains, though, and Tropicana Entertainment<\/strong>‘s Casino Aztar<\/em> was the sole riverboat to withstand Penn’s onslaught, up 5%, preserving its Little Casino That Could status.<\/p>\n

In Detroit<\/strong>, the market continues to be owned by MGM Global Thingamajig<\/strong>, whose MGM Grand Detroit<\/strong> accounted for $46 million of June’s $110 million (and to think CEO Jim Murren<\/strong> actually shopped it around for quick CityCenter<\/strong> cash). MGM’s Motown pleasure palace is regaining market share, up 6%. Motor City<\/strong> was flat at $36.5 million while Greektown Casino<\/strong> continued to relinquish gains made under (stupidly cashiered) Fine Point Group<\/strong>. Rudderless after would-be casino managers Warner Gaming<\/strong> precipitately fled the scene, Greektown was down 6%, pulling in an even $27 million.<\/p>\n

Another lousy month<\/strong>. Yes, it’s got to be the moribund Illinois<\/strong> market, which sank another 5%. Casinos in the Land of Lincoln grossed $109 million statewide (that’s right, less than hard-hit Detroit) last month. When the 2009 closure of Empress Joliet<\/em> is factored into the equation, the plunge is a depressing 12%. Ugh.<\/p>\n

\"\"Nobody was crying into their beer aboard rebounding Empress Joliet<\/em> ($11 million, +193%; at left is the March 20, 2009 fire that put it out of commission for months) but it sucked business out of Hollywood Aurora<\/em> (-13%), Harrah’s Joliet<\/strong> (-22.5%), MGM’s Grand Victoria<\/em> (-6%). A comparable suction occurred in southern Illinois, where Pinnacle’s new River City<\/strong> casino in Missouri<\/strong> continues to bleed Illinois rivals. Independently owned Casino Queen<\/em> fell -20% while Penn’s Alton Belle<\/em> suffered a 14% falloff. Harrah’s and Boyd also suffered reverses aboard Metropolis<\/em> and Par-A-Dice<\/em> respectively. A new facility in a killer location continue to allow Casino Rock Island<\/strong> to buck the trend, up 9%. At $23 million, Grand Victoria<\/em> was the state’s top grosser, followed by Harrah’s Joliet’s $20 million, while Alton Belle<\/em> slipped into last place.<\/p>\n

(As you can see from its Detroit and Elgin<\/strong> revenues, it would be catastrophic for MGM Mirage<\/span> Resorts International<\/strong> to lose its Illinois and Michigan licenses. Regulators in Illinois have been running silent since they announced they would study the New Jersey Casino Control Commission<\/strong>‘s report on J. Terrence Lanni<\/strong>‘s Faustian pact with Stanley Ho<\/strong>. Expect Michigan and Mississippi<\/strong> to follow whatever course, if any, Illinois eventually takes on the matter.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iowa‘s casino revenues last month were nearly the textbook definition of “flat”: up a tenth of a percent, the first revenue-positive month since February 2009. (Hey, growth is growth. We’ll take it.) The drag anchor on revs was Harrah’s Entertainment, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[40,60,82,56,28,44,83,14,4,7,67,58,68,22,86,85,62,11,35,39,110,69,30,111,25,61,20,21,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3988"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3988"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4070,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3988\/revisions\/4070"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}