Newly opened Four Winds Casino Resort appears to have cut into business at rival Blue Chip for the second straight month.
Blue Chip casino, in Michigan City, took in $18.4 million in September, nearly $5.6 million less than it did the same month a year ago.
The 23 percent drop in revenue followed a 12.7 percent year-over-year decline for Blue Chip in August, Four Winds' first month of business since opening in nearby New Buffalo, Mich.
The five Northwest Indiana casinos combined took in just less than $100 million for the month, down 7 percent from $107.6 million in September 2006, according to information from the Indiana Gaming Commission.
Gambling industry observers said it's still too soon to tell how the Four Winds tribal casino, operated on a 50-acre site in southeastern Michigan, will impact the Lake Michigan docked riverboats in the long run.
Four Winds gave gamblers their first look at a land-based casino in the local market, said John Busam, editor of Midwest Gaming & Travel.
"People who visited Four Winds obviously liked what they saw," Busam said
"Blue Chip knew they were going to take a hit and attempted to counteract with a giant marketing effort," Busam said. "They're going to have to work to adapt their marketing strategy to retain their customers."
It's likely Blue Chip will step up non-gaming amenities, such as dining and entertainment, Busam said, to attract people who've never been to a casino before.
"Their Saturday night out is going to be to a casino," Busam said.
Eventually, the market will stabilize, Busam said.
"You really do need to give (Blue Chip) a full year," said Ed Feigenbaum, whose Indiana Gaming Insight tracks the state's gambling industry.
Most of Four Winds' impact on Blue Chip will come in the first months of its opening, Feigenbaum said.
"They're going through their toughest time now," he said.
A new hotel being built at Blue Chip will likely help, Feigenbaum said. "Every casino that has opened a destination hotel has seen an increase in business afterward," he said.
Traffic through Blue Chip turnstiles declined by 20 percent from September 2006, amounting to about 58,400 fewer gamblers boarding the riverboat.
Overall traffic to the combined five Northwest Indiana casinos fell by 2 percent to 1,145,597, compared to 1,169,643 in September 2006.
The Don Barden-owned Majestic Star casinos in Gary saw revenue and traffic climb for the month.
The two Gary riverboats took in a total $20.6 million, with a total 271,094 gamblers boarding the boats, up from 265,502 in the same month last year.
Resorts East Chicago, under new ownership by Ameristar Casinos Inc., rang up revenue of $25.6 million, a 1 percent increase from September 2006.
Revenue declined by 7.4 percent to $35.4 million at Hammond's Horseshoe casino, whose nearly $500 million expansion is due to open in September 2008.
Blue Chip's $170 million new, larger vessel debuted in January 2006, ahead of Four Winds' arrival in the market.
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