Illinois casino revenue declines in November
The Illinois Gaming Board has reported casino revenue of nearly $104m for November, down 4.7 per cent from October’s $109.1m.
US.- The Illinois Gaming Board has released its casino revenue report for November. According to the official figures, the eleven state casinos generated revenue of nearly $104m while revenue from video gaming terminals reached $205.4m. Both figures represent month-on-month declines.
Casino revenue was 4.7 per cent lower than October’s $109.1m and 13.5 per cent less than the year’s record of $120.1m in July. Despite the decline, the state’s eleven casinos have passed the $1bn mark in combined table and EGD revenue for 2021 and are expected to more than triple last year’s pandemic-affected total of $367.3m.
The decline may come as surprise since last month Hard Rock opened its temporary casino in Rockford City, which has more than 600 slot machines, a sports bar, and a restaurant.
Although the number of active video gaming terminals (VGTs) reached an all-time high of 41,472, an 11.6 per cent increase from the 37,145 in operation at the start of the year, net terminal income (NTI) slipped 6.3 per cent from October ($205.4m). The NTI from last month is the lowest since the $171.5m reported in February, when venues were limited to 50 per cent capacity due to the pandemic.
Tax receipts generated from casino and VGT revenues totalled more than $103.5m in November. Of that amount, $87.3m goes to the state.
How did each casino perform?
According to data collected by USBets from the IGB report, the top revenue generator for the state continues to be Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, generating nearly $40.1m in revenue, 38.5 per cent of the state’s total. However, tht was also a 9 per cent decline from October’s $44m.
The only venue that saw revenue rise was DraftKings at Casino Queen in East St. Louis, with nearly $6.3m, an increase of just 0.3 per cent. Most of that increase came from table play, which generated $1.7m, up 27.2 per cent from October.
Harrah’s in Joliet topped the ranking for highest revenue per admission at $195.56, followed by Rivers ($185.14) and Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin ($167.35). Harrah’s Metropolis ($157.40) was the only other venue to surpass $150 per admission.
Rivers was the only venue to gain at least one-third of its total revenue from table games at 39.1 per cent, while DraftKings (26.8 per cent) and Par-A-Dice in East Peoria (26 per cent) were the only other venues to reach 25 per cent. Rivers’ average of $72.43 per admission from table games was nearly double the state average of $37.83.
Harrah’s Joliet retained its spot atop the EGD per admission at $155.83, followed by Grand Victoria ($134.04) and Harrah’s Metropolis ($130.17). Every venue but Bally’s Quad Cities posted at least $100 per square foot of gaming space, with Rivers skewing the overall average significantly higher by generating $917.31 per square foot.
The latest Hard Rock’s temporary venue is solely electronic games. It generated more than $4.1m in 22 days of operation and saw 41,637 admissions, ranking seventh among the state’s 11 gaming venues.
The Illinois Gaming Board hasn’t yet released sports betting revenue and tax receipts numbers for November.
