Midwest heartland making a bet on gambling

Gambling in Iowa? As unlikely as it may have sounded at one time, Iowa was the leading commercial casino state in revenue last year with a 16.2% increase followed by Mississippi, which grew by 12.5% in revenues.

What is happening is that across the US heartland, there’s a proliferation of new and expanded Las Vegas-style resorts that are attractive to meeting and group events as well as leisure travelers.

“Casino projects are transforming the skylines of Detroit and St. Louis and are revitalizing riverfront towns. Massive new entertainment and gambling palaces will be opening soon along the Indiana side of Lake Michigan,” notes Meetings MidAmerica.

Commercial casinos nationwide had a 5.3% increase in gross gaming revenues last year, according to the American Gaming Association (AGA).

Indiana is one good example. It has 10 riverfront casinos and one land-based facility.  Five dockside facilities are located along Lake Michigan. They are part of Chicagoland, which, according to AGA, is the country’s third largest commercial casino market after the Vegas Strip and Atlantic City, with gaming revenues of $2.6 billion last year.

With no restrictions on the number of casino gaming positions (slot and electronic machines and table games), the state is seeing major Chicagoland expansions.

Harrah’s Entertainment’s $485 million expansion at Horseshoe Casino Hammond will debut this fall. A two-level vessel will have a first-floor 108,000-square-foot casino, twice the size of the existing facility with 3,200 slots and 100 table games. The second level will include a 2,500-seat theater accommodating 1,500 people for banquets.

Boyd Gaming’s Blue Chip Casino Hotel in Michigan City will unveil a $130 million expansion later this year. A new 300-room hotel tower will bring total rooms to 484. The addition will also include a spa, a 1,200-seat entertainment complex and 15,000 square feet of additional conference space. In early 2006, it opened its new barge with 65,000 square feet of gaming.

At Lawrenceburg, 30 miles from Cincinnati, Penn National Gaming’s 300-room Argosy Hotel & Casino Lawrenceburg is undergoing a $300 million-plus expansion. A new casino opening in mid-2009 will double the gaming area to 175,000 square feet.

Across from Louisville, Ky., the 503-room Caesars Indiana in Elizabeth with golf and 14,000 square feet of meeting space was recently rebranded, becoming the Horseshoe Southern Indiana following a $53 million renovation that includes upgrading its 2,400-slot riverboat.

Others:

Ø       The state of Illinois has nine riverboat casinos, including five that are part of Chicagoland. It restricts casinos to a maximum of 1,200 gaming positions.  Oddly enough, it also bans smoking: the Smoke Free Illinois Act, which prohibits smoking in public buildings, including casinos, went into effect Jan. 1. Harrah’s reported that the ban led to “sharp declines” in first-quarter revenues in the Illinois/Indiana region.

Ø       Missouri got its 12th riverfront casino last December when Pinnacle Entertainment’s $507 million Lumiere Place debuted in St. Louis. The first component, a new 2,000-slot casino, was followed in February by the unveiling of the 14-story, 200-room Four Seasons Hotel St. Louis with a ballroom holding 900 people.

Ø       In Kansas, the legislature last year passed the Expanded Lottery Act legalizing commercial casinos.  The state is moving ahead with an approval process to have one casino resort in each of four regions.

Ø       Michigan’s only commercial casinos are in Detroit. It has three of them, and they are large enough to make the city the nation’s fifth largest casino market, with revenues topping $1.3 billion last year.  Last year the state’s gambling facilities began to roll out their new permanent casinos each with 400 room hotels as part of an agreement with the city.

Ø       Minnesota has more than 30 Indian gaming facilities, about one-third of them with meeting space. Southern Minnesota’s 2,500-slot Treasure Island Resort & Casino has scheduled the grand opening of its $50 million expansion for the end of this month.

Report by David Wilkening