Northwest Indiana’s three casinos reported revenues of $73.8 million in August, an increase of about 3.4% from the approximately $71.2 million reported for the same month last year, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission’s monthly gaming report.
Hard Rock Northern Indiana saw an increase in earnings with about $38.1 million reported for August, an increase over August 2023 when it reported $31.6 million, according to the report.
Matt Schuffert, president of Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, said he was pleased that the casino saw about a 17% increase this month compared to August 2023. He attributed the increase to a “favorable calendar” in August compared to a year ago.
This August had five weekends, compared to four weekends last year, Schuffert said. Additionally, a part of the Labor Day weekend fell in August this year, whereas last year the entire holiday weekend fell completely in September, he said.
“I would have expected some growth year over year, just because of the better calendar,” Schuffert said. “Very strong month coming from all sides of the business. Definitely was good to see. It was nice to see the entire Northwest Indiana market have some growth.”
Ameristar Casino in East Chicago reported an August win of $15.1 million while Horseshoe Hammond reported about $20.6 million. Those figures compared to $15.2 million and $24.4 million in win respectively for August 2023.
All three Northwest Indiana casinos saw an increase in revenues from July to August this year.
Ameristar reported about $14.5 million in July and $15.1 million in August, while Horseshoe Hammond reported $20 million in revenues in July compared to about $20.6 million in August. Hard Rock reported about $37.6 million in July and $38.1 million in August.
In August, the Hard Rock had seven shows, like Sam Hunt and Sublime, which also likely contributed to the increase in revenue, Schuffert said.
Looking ahead to September, Schuffert said it’s too early to tell its revenues. But, it will be interesting to watch how a shift in weekends year over year in September will potentially affect the numbers, he said.
“All indications is September is going to be another solid month,” Schuffert said. “Last September was a pretty strong calendar with the whole Labor Day weekend. You would, potentially, think maybe the market might be down year over year because of that change in calendar, but again, we’ll see when the numbers are out.”
