Indiana casino revenue dropped again in June, marking the third month in a row of declining state gambling taxes.

After a strong win for Indiana sports betting and casinos in 2021, some wonder if the future of gambling in Hoosier State remains promising.

Even top-earning Indiana casinos are seeing a steady tank in revenue. Hard Rock Casino in Gary and Horseshoe Casino in Hammond topped the list as the state’s highest earners for June.

Hard Rock raked in $33.1 million in casino revenue for June, which fell 8.9% when compared to May’s revenue. June’s revenue was 14.1% below April’s revenue.

Horseshoe brought in $28.3 million in revenue for June, falling only 2.3% below the casino’s May numbers but a whopping 17.7% below March’s.

Other casinos reported similar drops in revenue, with Ameristar Casino pulling in $16.2 million in June. This total was 7.3% below the casino’s $17.5 million in May revenue and 18.9% below its $20 million in March revenue.

Blue Chip Casino reported a 12.9% dip in June revenue from May and an 18.1% drop from March.

YOY revenue for casinos in Indiana looks bleak

The total win for Indiana casinos went from $211 million in May down to $197.2 million in June – a 7% overall decrease month over month. May’s revenue was already 8% short of matching April’s revenue.

When compared to the highest earning month so far in 2022 – which was $235.2 million in March – June’s revenue falls short by 16.2%.

While spring has always been considered the “slow season” for casinos in Indiana, last year’s revenue for March through June told a different story than that of this year.

In 2021, total casino revenue in Indiana for these months looked much more promising:

• March 2021: $209 million in revenue
• April 2021: $211.7 million in revenue
• May 2021: $220.8 million in revenue
• June 2021: $230.8 million in revenue

This means the overall casino wins for June have dropped 14% year-over-year.

Why the dips in Indiana gambling?

Declining gambling wagers coincide with the country’s ever-growing inflation as well as federal pandemic stimulus and relief programs coming to an end.

Indiana gamblers simply have less cash flow than they did last year while food and gas prices remain high.

Not all bad news for Indiana casino revenue

Overall casino revenue in Indiana appears to be slowly declining this spring. However, Hard Rock Casino reported that their June gambling revenue was the 4th highest month for revenue since the casino opened in May of 2021.

The casino’s president, Matt Schuffert, attributes this bit of success partially to the casino’s entertainment bookings. “We are in the middle of our strong summer entertainment schedule,” he said. “And look forward to announcing many more shows soon.”

Hard Rock also implemented some changes on the gambling floor that positively impacted the casino’s June revenue. Schuffert continued:

“In June, we increased our number of slot machines by adding many classic reel machines as requested by our guests. We continue to lead the state of Indiana in slot and table games volume and win as a credit to not only the convenient, high-quality facility we have built but a testament to the great job that our band members do each and every day.”

The Indiana Gaming Commission (IGC) reported that the state of Indiana gained slot machine and table game tax revenue amounting to $64.2 million overall in June.

An additional $1.5 million in gambling taxes was collected from Indiana sports betting revenue.