Northwest Indiana gambling revenues up 3.5% in April

Northwest Indiana's casino industry is continuing to see growth in 2016, posting a 3.5% increase in collective revenues in April compared to the same month last year and a year-to-date jump of almost 3%.

2016-05-11

United States

Reading time 1:29 min

Northwest Indiana's casino industry is continuing to see growth in 2016, posting a 3.5% increase in collective revenues in April compared to the same month last year and a year-to-date jump of almost 3%.

"It's a very nice story in general," Chris Albrecht, assistant general manager of Horseshoe Hammond, said Monday.

The five casinos together took in a total of $86.28 million in April, compared to $83.63 million in April 2015, according to the monthly revenue report released Monday by the Indiana Gaming Commission.

Revenues increased at every casino in the region except Majestic Star II in Gary, where it remained basically flat.

While a favorable calendar with five Fridays and five Saturdays helped boost the numbers, the overall revenue hike came despite drops in attendance at the region's two busiest casinos -- Horseshoe Hammond and Ameristar Casino in East Chicago.

Revenues increased 6 percent at Ameristar, which has seen year-over-year growth in 16 of the last 20 months.

"We're definitely seeing more win per trip. Some guests could be giving us two to three quality trips per week where maybe they made five to six less quality trips per week before," said Matthew Schuffert, senior vice president and general manager of Ameristar.

Schuffert said April is typically a good month for the casino, and this April was aided by the opening of its new baccarat section.

"A lot of the capital improvement we've made are working," Schuffert said.

He said the casino's table business grew 37 percent year-over-year.

Horseshoe Hammond's revenues grew 2 percent in April, with table games up 13.4 percent, Albrecht said.

He said the numbers for the last six to seven months have been indicating that people are spending more per visit.

"As we look at trends and how we're looking in 2016, it's positive overall," Albrecht said.

According to the gaming report, Ameristar took in $21.16 million last month, compared to $19.97 million the previous April, Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City brought in $14.01 million compared to $13.4 million, Horseshoe Hammond raked in $36.62 million compared to $36.16 million, Majestic Star I in Gary brought in $8.55 million compared to $8.11 million and Majestic Star II in Gary took in $5.95 million compared to $5.99 million.