Indiana casinos battle recession and drop in revenue

MUNSTER, Indiana -- As reported by The Times of Northwest Indiana: "Northwest Indiana casino revenues in June were down $1.25 million from a year ago, a sign the recession blues are starting to
  catch up with the gaming boats.

"The monthly revenue report from the Indiana Gaming Commission shows Northwest Indiana casinos had total revenues of $93.79 million in June, as compared to $95.04 million one year ago.

"The two casinos that invested most heavily in improvements in the past year, Horseshoe in Hammond and Blue Chip in Michigan City, still logged year-over-year increases. But their good fortune was not enough to offset sharp declines in revenue at the other three casinos.

"Casinos generally expect some slowdown from May to June, but they still want to see improvement in revenues as compared to the year-ago period, said Ed Feigenbaum, editor of Indiana Gaming Insight.

"But an unemployment rate hovering around 10 percent in Indiana and Illinois, which surpassing the rate in Michigan, made that a difficult task this year..."