Northwest Indiana casino revenues were down for the second-straight month in February, with operators attributing the 8.4 percent plunge to the blizzard at the beginning of the month. But other observers fear it could be the start of a trend.
The five Northwest Indiana boats raked in $93.6 million in February, down from $102.15 million in
"Year over year, we were obviously impacted by the blizzard, both pre- and post-storm," Horseshoe Casino General Manager Dan Nita said. "And we were closed down just over 48 hours."
But the early February storm was not the only factor in producing lower casino revenues, said Ed Feigenbaum, editor of Indiana Gaming Insight.
Casino revenues statewide also were down in February 2010 as compared to the year before, and January casino revenues this year were down from the year before just as they were in January 2010.
"That is not a good thing," Feigenbaum said. "Certainly you can say the weather in 2011 was more challenging than in 2010, but we are still down an awful lot."
The downward trend in casino revenues especially is alarming considering the challenges for Indiana gaming that are on the horizon from Ohio and Chicago. But, so far, legislators have been loath to act decisively, Feigenbaum said.
Casinos were successful this year in getting a bill through the Indiana Senate that could benefit them without costing the state any revenue, Feigenbaum said. But final passage of that bill, like so many others, is on hold until Democrats end their walkout in the Indiana House.
Horseshoe Casino had the largest drop in February revenue, taking in $40.65 million as compared to $47.11 million in February 2010, a 13.7 percent drop.
Nita said a free-buffet promotion that started in February 2010 and ran for several months was delayed this year until March, so that may have affected the drop in February revenues as well.
Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City had the next-largest decline in revenue, taking in $21.18 million, a 7.2 percent drop from a year ago.
Ameristar Casino in East Chicago, one of the hardest-hit casinos last year because of the recession and the Cline Avenue Bridge closure, had a comparatively small drop of just 2.9 percent. The two Majestic Star Casinos in Gary had a similar drop in revenue of about 2.2 percent.
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