Horseshoe Overtakes Hollywood For #1 In Revenue

By Mike Perleberg 

Hollywood Casino Lawrenceburg fell to the second spot in revenue among tri-state area casinos in September.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg has been knocked from its perch as the tri-state’s number one casino.

The riverboat has been the highest grossing casino in the area almost every month since it opened at the Ohio River levee in Lawrenceburg in 1996. But last month, the new Horseshoe Casino in Cincinnati reported more revenue.

Horseshoe reported $19.8 million in revenue during the month of September. Hollywood checked in Tuesday with $19.3 million last month, according to the Indiana Gaming Commission.

Since it opened in March, the Horseshoe Casino in Cincinnati has attracted 2.7 million people through its doors. That's more than the three local Indiana riverboats combined. However, those gamblers at Horseshoe Casino on average do not gamble as much as those at Hollywood, which has kept dollar revenue closer.

Hollywood’s $19.3 million in revenue was a decline of 35 percent from September of 2012. Attendance at the riverboat mirrored that decline, off almost 36 percent to 161,755.

Revenues at Belterra Casino Resort & Spa in Switzerland County were off 19 percent from last year to $9.7 million last month. Belterra had 111,362 visitors in September, down about 15.7 percent from the same month a year ago.

Rising Star Casino Resort in Rising Sun saw revenue decline 21 percent to $4.8 million in September, almost tied with this past May for the riverboat's all-time low in a month. Comparing this September to this August, revenue was down about 15 percent. Attendance at Rising Star slid even more dramatically from September of 2012 by 24.7 percent to 76,697 people.

A new 104-room hotel to open at the casino property in Rising Sun could bolster Rising Star's numbers. In August, parent company Full House Resorts announced it entered into a lease agreement for the hotel, which is planned to open by the end of the year.

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