It has been a bit of a slow start for the casino industry, but that hasn’t been the case for online casinos. The brick and mortar casinos in Indiana were able to reverse that trend in the month of May as they started to show some signs of growth again.
Adjusted gross revenue for the month of May was just shy of $211 million, and it’s the third straight month with at least $200 million. The numbers from the Indiana Gaming Commission showed that the AGR climbed more than $10 million from the April numbers.
Online casinos are still illegal in the state of Indiana, but estimates suggest that they could bring in more than $100 million each month. The lack of online casinos has helped the traditional casinos, as has a new property opening up in Terre Haute.
Indiana is clearly leaving money on the table by not having online casinos available, and that is the case for most of the Midwest. Michigan is the only state in that part of the country with that industry, and it’s also the biggest in the country.
While online casino gaming is likely to coming to Indiana at some point, it still feels like it’s a ways away.
Indiana Needs More Revenue
It’s no secret that most states are looking for ways to generate new revenue, and it’s easy to predict how well the Indiana online casino industry would do. Indiana is a state with 6.9 million people, and that’s higher than the average of states with an online casino.
If the online casinos in Indiana were able to perform to the standard that has been set in the industry, then Indiana should be bringing in more than $100 million in revenue each month. That is still well behind the three biggest markets, but it would take pressure off of the commercial casinos to deliver.
The success from the new casino property in Terre Haute should be used as an argument for legalizing online casinos. That casino has brought in more than $23 million in revenue in just two months, and it hasn’t hurt the other properties.
Hard Rock Continues to Lead
While all of the casinos in Indiana are helping to increase the total revenue, there are a few casinos that continue to lead the way. When the Indiana Gaming Commission releases the figures each month, the Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana continues to lead the way.
That property actually saw a slight decrease in the overall revenue from April, but that wasn’t the case for many other properties. Horseshoe Indianapolis was able to finish in second place in May, and it brought in a revenue of more than $22 million.
The French Lick Resort and Rising Star Casino continue to struggle to generate much business, and they even fell behind the Terre Haute Casino. Churchill Downs Inc. is behind the Terre Haute Casino, and that’s a company that knows how to attract business in this industry.
