Tropicana Evansville was the only casino in Indiana to see increases in both visitation and gambling revenue last month, according to an Indiana Gaming Commission report.
Tropicana’s riverboat casino saw 95,512 visitors in September, up 5 percent from a year earlier. It earned $9.7 million from gambling, up 7 percent.
The numbers come from the Indiana Gaming Commission’s September revenue report, released Wednesday. The report details how many people visited each of Indiana’s casinos last month, how much they wagered and how much each property kept in gambling revenue and paid in taxes.
Indiana Gaming Commission’s monthly revenue report from September 2014 (PDF)
Indiana Gaming Commission’s monthly revenue report from September 2013 (PDF)
Taken as a whole, Indiana’s casinos saw nearly 1.5 million guests last month, down 11 percent from a year earlier. Only Tropicana and Blue Chip in Michigan City saw attendance increases — all the rest recorded decreases of between 5 and 25 percent. Blue Chip’s attendance increase was less than half of 1 percent.
As a group, the state’s casinos earned $174 million from gambling last month, down 9 percent. Aside from Tropicana, all of the state’s other casinos posted revenue declines as compared to a year earlier. Those declines ranged from 1 percent at the Indiana Grand in Shelbyville; to 27 percent at Rising Star in Rising Sun.
Tropicana’s General Manager, Jason Gregorec, said continued improvements in Tropicana’s guest services and marketing are boosting the casino’s performance.
Looking ahead, Gregorec said Tropicana may face increased competition from its neighbor to the west.
The Harrah’s casino in Metropolis, Ill. plans to move to a land-based facility in December, Gregorec said. The move will make it more convenient for patrons to enter the casino, and in the casino industry “convenience is very big.”
It’s too early to tell exactly how much of an effect the move will have on Tropicana, Gregorec said. In part, it depends on how the Illinois facility sets up its restaurants and entertainment offerings in relation to the casino floor.
“We’ll just have to wait and see what kind of impact that is.”