Bally’s Rebrands, Reopens Former Tropicana Evansville Casino

The former Tropicana Evansville Casino has a new name.

The facility is now called Bally's Evansville Casino & Hotel after Bally’s purchased it, and it was set to reopen on Wednesday morning, with new signage and the inclusion of the Bally’s Rewards program for customers.

The deal for Bally’s to purchase the casino and hotel was completed in June. Bally’s bought the property from Caesars for $140 million.

Caesars initially agreed to strike the deal in October 2020 with Twin River Holdings. Twin River has since been rebranded as Bally’s after those two companies merged.

Bally’s said in a release that, over the next several months, the rebranding will include everything from exterior signs to gaming chips, dice and table game layouts. The company also said that existing rewards for customers will transfer to new Bally Rewards cards.

Long History For Evansville Casino

According to the Evansville Courier & Press, Evansville was the home of Indiana’s first casino when the Casino Aztar riverboat opened in 1995.

The facility became Tropicana Evansville in 2013 and moved onto land four years later, the story said.

The current casino has 79,000 square feet of space. According to the casino’s website, Bally’s Evansville offers more than 30 tables games including Craps, Blackjack and Roulette, plus about 500 slots.

"We are proud to bring the Bally's brand to Evansville, and it's an exciting time for our customers and team members,” Bally’s Corporation president and CEO George Papanier said in a release. “I'd like to thank the State of Indiana for its collaboration throughout this process, and I'd also like to recognize our team members for their contributions to this significant endeavor."

Bally's Evansville is offering a $200,000 Ballyverse Cash & More Giveaway for Bally Rewards club members; see ballysevansville.com for more details.

Deal Includes Sports Betting

The deal includes a provision for Bally’s to run the sports betting operation at the casino.

Tropicana Evansville has had retail sports betting and pulled in $1.43 million in sports wagering handle in September. That was part of a record month for Indiana as the state set new all-time highs for total sports betting handle ($355.4 million), mobile handle ($326.6 million), revenue ($33.9 million) and tax collected ($3.2 million).