Indiana Casino Revenue Above $200 Million For Second-Straight Month In April

The 12 casinos in Indiana collectively produced $205.1 million in adjusted gross revenue (casino win minus revenue and promotions) in April. However, this figure shows a decrease of 5.9% from the previous month and a 7.5% drop compared to the same month last year.

Despite the decrease, April maintained the momentum from March, marking the second consecutive month that Indiana’s casinos reported an AGR exceeding $200 million. Prior to March, this threshold hadn’t been reached since July 2022.

Northern licensees dominate

The April report from the Indiana Gaming Commission categorizes gambling licensees into three parts: those in the north, those in the south, and racinos.

Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, along with other Northern licensees, contributed to over 43% of the state’s AGR. Each of the four Northern licensees earned over $10 million in April.

• Northern Indiana Hard Rock Casino: $37.7 million
• Horseshoe Hammond: $24.1 million
• Ameristar: $17.1 million
• Blue Chip: $10.6 million

Six licensees in southern Indiana, usually smaller than those in the north, failed to achieve $10 million in AGR last month.

• Southern Indiana’s Caesars: $21.4 million
• Bally's Evansville: $14.7 million
• Hollywood Lawrenceburg: $13.3 million
• Belterra: $7.2 million
• Resort of French Lick: $6 million
• Rising Star: $3.6 million

The last two properties fall under the racino category, meaning they have a full casino offering along with horse racing tracks. These two locations were among the top five income generators for the month.

• Horseshoe Indianapolis: $30.1 million
• $19.2 million at Harrah’s Hoosier Park

These figures relate to how close properties are to major cities. Casinos in the Chicagoland region perform the best, but the abundance of alternatives prevents Hard Rock from gaining excessive dominance.

Unsurprisingly, Horseshoe Indianapolis, which is located close to Indiana’s most populous city, ranks second. The close proximity of Louisville to Caesars Southern Indiana has resulted in its AGR exceeding $20 million.

Conversely, casinos in the Cincinnati area reported lower profits. Legal casino gaming is available in Cincinnati, unlike in Chicago and Kentucky, meaning that Ohio residents do not depend on Indiana’s casinos as much as other neighboring states do.

Hard Rock approaches a $40 million profit for the second consecutive month.

Northern Indiana’s Hard Rock has held the prime position among casinos in the Hoosier State for an unbroken stint of 19 months until April. The establishment, which opened its doors in May 2021, rapidly gained prominence and by October 2021, it had ascended to the top spot, where it has remained ever since.

In the past two months, Hard Rock’s winnings have exceeded $39 million. The last casino to reach $40 million was Horseshoe Hammond, which reported earnings of $40.1 million in March 2018. Remarkably, it did not have any free play deductions, resulting in an AGR of $40.1 million. In contrast, Hard Rock reported $1.5 million in free play deductions in April.

Hard Rock outperformed all other casinos in both slot and table games win. It was the sole casino to achieve an eight-figure table games win.

Top five slots winners:

• Northern Indiana Hard Rock: $27.3 million
• Horseshoe Indianapolis: $25.7 million
• Horseshoe Hammond: $20.2 million
• $17.4 million: Harrah’s Hoosier Park
• Southern Indiana’s Caesars: $16.3 million

Winners of the Top Five Table Games:

• Northern Indiana Hard Rock: $11.8 million
• Southern Indiana Caesars: $5.55 million
• Horseshoe Hammond: $5.53 million
• Horseshoe Indianapolis: $4.7 million
• Ameristar: $3.2 million

Casinos fare better than sportsbooks.

In April, Indiana sportsbooks experienced a more significant impact than casinos with MoM and YoY decreases in the double digits. The monthly decline was expected due to seasonality, yet the action still fell by more than 10% from April 2022.

Casinos might appreciate that slots and table games don’t experience seasonal fluctuations like sports, but there are still numerous similarities between the two.

The decline in Indiana’s year-on-year sports betting is also due to maturation, including the legalization in neighboring states. Similarly, its main casinos in the north are eyeing the groundbreaking of Bally’s Chicago, which is set to commence next year.

In that context, future casinos in the Chicago-area are predicted to impact the profits of Indiana casinos.

However, similar to sports betting, in-state casinos will continue to have sufficient demand to yield substantial profits. In the ensuing years, though their share of the casino market may shrink, it will remain significantly large.