Northwest Indiana Casinos Up 6% to $75.2M in June

The Indiana Gaming Commission has released its latest financial report for the month of June, revealing a 6% rise in casino revenue to $75.2 million compared to the same month in 2016. Despite the increase and two straight months of growth, however, the state’s casino revenues are still currently down by 1.6% on the same period last year, with a total of $481.5 million having been generated for H1 of 2017.
Leading the state’s 5 gambling venues in June was the Horseshoe up 10.8% to $32.3 million, and as Horseshoe Senior VP Dan Nita explains: “We’re very pleased with the results this month. We had growth in all the key metrics — slots, table games, poker and visitor count.”
Also noting solid revenue growth last month was Ameristar up 8.7 % to $17.8 million, and Blue Chip up 4.5% to $13.1 million; while Gary’s Majestic Star I moved in the opposite direction with business falling by 7.1% to $12 million, as did Majestic Star II down 14.6% to $4.68 million.
In June, Northwest Indiana casinos generated a total of $178.8 million in gaming win, from which they then paid out $56.6 million in wagering taxes, and a further $3.7 million in admissions taxes, which currently stands at $3-per-patron. Starting July 1, 2018, however, the admission tax will be replaced by a new wagering income tax, which will favor the Blue Chip casino, with David Strow, VP of corporate communications at Boyd Gaming, the casinos’ parent company, explaining:
“In our view, the admissions tax penalized us for the significant investments we’ve made in nongaming amenities, such as hotel rooms and restaurants. We incur a separate admissions tax each time a customer moves between the casino and those amenities.”
Nevertheless, other Northwest Indiana casinos are also set to benefit from the new regime, with Dan Nita from the Horseshoe stating that the change will allow the casino the potential to attract even bigger groups and acts to meeting space and theater at its location as it will no longer be required to pay taxes on its nongambling visitors.