Northwest Indiana’s five casinos continue to struggle with admissions, even though the monthly revenue report for May looked somewhat positive on the surface, one casino executive said Tuesday.
“What’s alarming is that admissions continue to go down,” sais Steve Cox, director of admissions for Horseshoe Hammond.
“Overall, people are not coming out to casinos as much,” Cox said.
He said year-to-date admissions are down 5.6 percent for the area’s five casinos while Horseshoe’s have remained flat since January.
All five casinos saw a hike in admissions from April to May, according to the monthly revenues report issued Tuesday by the Indiana Gaming Commission, but Cox said this gain was due primarily to an additional weekend in May.
The five casinos took in a total of $88.24 million in revenues in May, up less than 2 percent from the $87.59 million received the previous May.
The casinos took in $83.6 million in revenues in April, according to the revenues report.
Ameristar in East Chicago showed improvement in revenues and attendance last month, despite a boycott of the casino called by UniteHere Local 1, which represents about 200 of its workers.
The casino took in $21.32 million in revenues last month compared to $20.02 million in May 2014 and just under $20 million in April.
The casino also boasted a turnstile count of 222,872 in May, an increase from both the 216,880 individuals who went through the turnstile in May 2014 and the 201,143 who did in April.
The union hoped the boycott would result in decreased attendance and revenues as it continues its work to secure a new contract for its represented employees that includes the same health benefits packages that they previously had.
In May, Ameristar’s owner, Pinnacle Entertainment, cut the union health plan.
The union announced last week it had launched a website, http://www.indianagamingalert.org, with updated information about actual and potential labor disputes affecting Northwest Indiana casinos and the status of contract negotiations.
Matt Schuffert, vice president and general manager of Ameristar, attributed the casino’s growth to its additional table game offerings, slot selection and customer service.
He said the casino had a successful opening of its new Stadium restaurant last month and has continued to see increased visitation, especially during Blackhawks games and the NBA finals.
Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City had increases in revenues and turnstile counts compared to last May, and Majestic Star II Casino in Gary saw its revenues increase.
Blue Chip took in $14.12 million in revenues and had 209,110 visitors last month compared to $13.9 million in revenues and 201,937 visitors the previous May. Majestic Star I took in $6.39 million in revenues and had 83,076 visitors last month compared to the $6.01 million in revenues and 98,085 visitors the previous May.
Horseshoe Hammond continued to dominate the revenues numbers, raking in $38.21 million in May, a slight drop compared to the $39.02 million it took in the previous May. The casino raked in $36.15 million in April.
“I’m not seeing any huge uptick at this point. A flat May may be a positive aspect,” Cox said.
Majestic Star Casino I took in $8.21 million compared to $8.61 million the previous May and $8.1 million in April. It shares the same visitor counts as Majestic Star II.
Karen Caffarini is a freelance reporter.
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