Most Indiana Casinos Struggle To Match Previous April Revenue Returns In 2023

While April tends to be a less lucrative month across the US casino industry, April declines at Indiana casinos were especially noticeable in 2023. Most of the licensed gaming facilities in the state struggled to keep up with their April 2022 performances.

At the same time, April wasn’t completely a month that Indiana’s gaming licensees were happy to put in their rearview mirrors. Online sportsbooks in the state saw improvement in their bottom lines during the month.

Indiana casinos fail to live up to April standards

April 2023 left something to be desired for Indiana casinos. The state’s 12 gaming licensees compiled over $205.1 million in revenue from their poker, slots, and table games for the month.

According to the latest numbers from the Indiana Gaming Commission, that total was comprised of annual declines at 10 of those 12 properties compared to their April 2022 revenue totals. Only Caesars Southern Indiana and the Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana saw year-over-year increases.

In total, statewide casino revenue declined by 7.5% in comparison to April 2022’s sum. The casinos’ physical sportsbooks acr
oss the state contributed another $1.5 million in revenue for the month. However, even that represented an annual downturn of about 31.9%.

Online sportsbooks helped soften the blow with their performance during April, though. The amount of money gambled dropped significantly with the wane in the sports calendar compared to earlier months in the year. However, the books did quite well in terms of keeping a solid portion of the money they did take in.

Online sportsbooks win over 9% of April dollars

In April, online sportsbooks won about $27.9 million from bettors, representing around 9.1% of the $304.1 million that residents and visitors plunked down on sports betting apps throughout the month. That respectable win percentage enabled the online portion of Indiana sports betting to record a slight year-over-year improvement.

In April 2022, online sportsbooks won around $26.4 million from bettors. Thus, revenue for online sports betting in April of this year rose by about 5.4%. That is respectable not only in terms of annual growth but also given the fact that in April 2022, no legal sportsbooks were operating in neighboring Ohio.

From all of these sources, Indiana collected over $68.7 million in tax revenue during April. While that’s down from the $74.2 million the state took in during April 2022, there is still good news in the overall picture.

April represented the second consecutive month that Indiana casinos compiled over $200 million in revenue from in-person gambling activity. Before the run of March and April of this year, it had been seven months since Indiana’s casinos crossed the $200 million threshold.

Given the fact that April tends to be among the leaner month for casinos in the US, there’s reason for optimism that they can get back on the level with their 2022 numbers moving forward. By the time 2023 ends, Indiana casinos might still enjoy a record year despite a less-than-impressive April.