Illinois Casino Revenues Down 5%, Iowa Up 4% In August
September 11, 2014 12:54 pmAccording to the latest results from the Illinois Gaming Board, the state’s 10 casinos generated 5.5% less revenues in August than they did in the same month last year. Casino admissions were also down by 7.5% last month, but while Illinois’ casino industry continues to suffer, its video gaming sector has been expanding at an impressive rate since going online in 2012, and in July reported a 117% increase in revenues to $55.6 million compared to July 2013. Over the same period, the number of video terminals statewide have increased from 8,808 to its current number of 18,000 terminals.
Continuing to lead the state’s casino market was River’s Casino in Des Plaines which generated $35.6 million in revenue in August,almost double that of its closest rival, Harrah’s Joliet ($17.9m), and nearly three times that of Hollywood Casino in Joliet ($11.5m).
However, the Empress Joliet was the state’s only casino to report an increase in August, up by 5%, while the Rivers Casino was down by 1%; the Harrah’s Joliet lower by 6%; the Boyd’s Par-A-Dice was down by 7% to $8 million; and the Grand Victoria saw its revenues plummet by 15% to $15 million.
Elsewhere, the Marginal Argosy Alton noted a 11.5% drop in revenues to $5 million; the Hollywood Aurora was off 9% from last year; the East St. Louis‘ Casino Queen was down by 10% to $9.5 million; and the Harrah’s Metropolis slipped 4% to $7 million.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Iowa casino revenues were up by 4% last month, with the state’s newest casino, The Hard Rock Casino, welcoming 200,000 guests through its doors since opening up for business on August 1st. The casino also generated $7.2 million in gross revenues along the way, and commenting on the casino’s impressive start, General Manager Todd Moyer, explained:
“Well, we’ve exceeded all of our revenue expectations in month one. September’s off to a great start and we just feel really good. We’re in a great position here and we’ve established a great base that we can build on. so we’re looking forward to the future.”