Tropicana Evansville continued to outperform its peers last month, according to an Indiana Gaming Commission report.
The commission recently released its June casino revenue report, which details performance at the state’s casinos.
Tropicana saw 90,724 visitors in June, a drop of 1 percent as compared to June 2013. The facility earned $9.36 million from gaming, down 3 percent from a year earlier.
The casino’s general manager, Jason Gregorec, said he was happy with the results. He noted that June is “typically a softer month” for the casino because of competition from summer vacations and other seasonal activities.
A calendar quirk also affected last month’s results, Gregorec said.
June 2013 contained five weekends, but June 2014 had only four.
“We lost a little bit there, just based on that,” Gregorec said.
Weekends are typically the busiest days for casinos.
But even with declines in patronage and gaming revenue, Tropicana came out ahead of its fellow casinos.
“The casino has just been remarkably steady,” said Ed Feigenbaum, editor of Indiana Gaming Insight.
Evansville’s location helps stabilize Tropicana’s performance, Feigenbaum, because gambling developments in Ohio and Illinois don’t have as much of an impact here as they do elsewhere in Indiana.
“There’s not been any of the big swings that we have seen at the other properties,” Feigenbaum said.
“It’s a discrete and insular market.”
Taken as a group, Indiana’s casinos saw 1.51 million visitors last month, down 11 percent as compared to June 2013. The casinos earned $179.73 million from gaming, a drop of 10 percent.
Tropicana’s main casino competitors are the French Lick Casino and the Harrah’s casino in Metropolis, Ill.
French Lick saw its admissions drop 12 percent in June to 70,385. Its gaming revenue dropped 25 percent to $5.48 million.
Metropolis saw its admissions drop 15 percent to 52,589. Its gaming revenue dropped 10 percent to $6.73 million.