WASHINGTON: Northwest Indiana’s five casinos saw their year-over-year monthly revenues drop 6.1 percent in February, with every casino taking a hit in both revenues and admissions. It was the second straight month of year-over-year revenue declines for the industry in the area, resulting in a slow start for 2017.Noah Hirsch, with Horseshoe Hammond Casino, said the 5.3 percent revenue slide was the second lowest of the five casinos. “It’s somewhat encouraging, considering we had one less day and no holidays,” Hirsch said.
Last year was a Leap Year, with an extra day — a Monday — on the calendar. “Any time you have an extra day in the month it helps. It’s always more of an increase if that extra day fell on a weekend,” Hirsch said. Hirsch said the Illinois market fared a little better than Northwest Indiana, with Illinois casinos’ revenues dropping 1.2 percent overall. According to the Indiana Gaming Revenue’s monthly revenue report, the five casinos in Northwest Indiana took in a total of $78.91 million, compared to $84.10 million the previous February.
Ameristar Casino in East Chicago raked in $18.89 million in February, $4.03 million of which came from table games and $14.86 million from slots. This compares to a total of $20.96 million in revenues for Ameristar a year ago February, $5.41 million of which came from table games and $15.55 million from slots.
