A May 8, 2015 announcement is proving hopeful for Northwest Indiana casinos. In April 2015 casinos announced total revenue of $83.6 million, which is only a 2.1% decline from April 2014. Casino revenues have declined on a smaller percentage since the start of 2015 than the declines in 2014 on a per month basis. According to the report this means the market is showing stabilization after Illinois passed a gaming law to allow video poker in restaurants and bars, keeping visitors numbers down for riverboat casinos.
Blue Chip Casino located in Michigan City posted revenue of $13.4 million, which increased 3% from April 2014. The casino is part of the Northwest Indiana gaming boat sector. They had the largest revenue gain in that sector.
Horseshoe Casino reported $36.2 million revenue with a 6.6% decline compared to the previous year. This makes the overall decline of Northwest Indiana about 1.6% according to Dan Nite of Horseshoe. He also says the gambling industry has reached a saturation point. There is still talk of opening a casino in downtown Chicago, but Nita says it would be too much gaming all in one area.
The stabilizing numbers are encouraging for NWI operators, but the jackpot came last week when Governor Mike Pence said he would allow a ?bill authorizing the casinos to move on-land to become law.