Casino news from http://desmoinesregister.com/
Casinos in Bettendorf and Davenport have seen attendance and revenues drop after the opening of a new casino in Riverside.
The Isle of Capri in Bettendorf earned nearly $1.1 million less, down 12.7 percent in September 2006 compared with September 2005, Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission figures released this week show. Its attendance was 27,608 lower last month than in September 2005.
In those same months, Rhythm City Casino in Davenport saw its gaming revenue drop by about $455,000, or 7.1 percent, and its attendance decrease by 15,303, the Cedar Rapids Gazette reported.
Both casinos also reported losses in gaming revenue and attendance from August to September 2006, even though August had an extra day.
Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, 15 miles south of Iowa City and about an hour’s drive from the Quad Cities, took in $7.4 million in gaming revenue from 122,655 patrons in September, its first full month of operation.
Each casino visitor lost an average of $61 per visit, compared with an average of $55 for the 16 casinos reporting to the state’s gaming commission.
Casino Chief Executive Officer Dan Kehl said studies conducted before the casino opened indicated it would have to take customers from Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, who went to the Quad Cities, plus a few heading to Dubuque.
“Hopefully, those people are coming to us now,” he said.
Officials from the Davenport and Bettendorf casinos and Isle of Capri Casinos Inc., which owns both casinos, did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.
Overall, four of the seven other state-licensed casinos in eastern Iowa earned less in gaming revenue last month compared with September 2005, while two reported increases. The other venue, Dubuque Greyhound Park & Casino, did not have table games in September 2005 and, therefore, its numbers last month were not comparable.
As planning and construction proceeded in Riverside the past two years, Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque concentrated on growing its market out of state, said Carrie Tedore, the casino’s director of public relations.
“We know that most of our opportunities lie in Wisconsin and Illinois,” she said.
Diamond Jo’s announced plans last month to build a new $50 million casino in Dubuque.
Jack Ketterer, administrator of the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission, said it is too early to determine Riverside’s long-term affect on other casinos. But he expects the new casino to draw gamblers from the Quad Cities’ casinos.
He said he thinks Riverside will affect most the Meskwaki Bingo Casino Hotel, about 85 miles away near Tama, which does not report to the commission.
That casino’s general manager, Dan Stromer, said Tama’s numbers have stayed strong compared with a year ago. Stromer declined to provide specifics.
He noted that the casino finished the first part of a $111 million expansion in July and expects the finished project next spring to remain competitive with Riverside and a casino opening in Waterloo next year.
“We expect to grow,” Stromer said. “I don’t think we expected to spend $111 million to remain steady.”
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