Iowa Casinos Experience April Revenue Crash

Casinos in Iowa report 6% revenue decline in April 2024. (Image: Steve Wright / Alamy)

The 19 casinos in the state of Iowa saw their aggregated gambling revenues for April decline by 6% year-on-year to a disappointing $143.8 million thanks to analogous across-the-board drops in both slot and gaming table receipts.

Official figures from the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission regulator show the 14,253 slot machines at land-based casinos in ‘The Hawkeye State’ chalked up combined April revenues of slightly over $129.1 million, which represented a fall of 8% year-on-year.

This figure was also 12% lower than the $147.4 million recorded for March, while sitting some 0.3% below February’s finishing tally of $129.5 million.

The news wasn’t much better when it came to gaming tables, including poker tables, as the state’s 439 units generated aggregated April revenues of approximately $14.7 million, which equated to a decrease of 12.5% month-on-month and 4% year-on-year.

Craps and blackjack were again the month’s top-performing games, despite slumps in total receipts to $4.3 million and $2.1 million, respectively.

Pessimistic Players

As far as Iowa’s most successful venues are concerned, the Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino facility recorded April gambling revenues of $19.9 million. 

However, the enterprise located in the Des Moines suburb of Altoona saw its slots receipts for the 30-day period plummet by some 10.3% month-on-month to $18.2 million, while its gaming table returns crashed by a little over 10.5% to $1.7 million.

The picture was just as depressing for the Horseshoe Casino Council Bluffs property, with its gambling revenues for April having plunged by 15.7% month-on-month to $15.5 million. 

This stemmed from a corresponding 12.8% diminution in slot receipts to just beyond $12.8 million as well as a 28.5% collapse in gaming table takings to approximately $2.5 million.

Discernible Depression

There was also bad news for the nearby Ameristar II operation, with its April gambling revenues having tumbled by 15.2% month-on-month to some $15.2 million. 

The riverboat facility located along the banks of the Missouri River chalked up a parallel 17% decrease in slot receipts to $13.2 million as its gaming table returns plunged by 5.2% to $1.9 million.

April gambling revenues for Washington County’s Riverside Casino and Golf Resort enterprise came in at nearly $10.9 million, which nevertheless represented a drop of 8.7% month-on-month. 

The 375-acre property from Elite Casino Resorts experienced a 10.7% decrease in its slot receipts to $9.7 million, although returns from its collection of 41 gaming tables increased by 11.7% to exceed $1.1 million.

Rounding out this top-five club, the Diamond Jo Casino facility in the small town of Worth saw its gambling revenues for April decrease by 8.3% month-on-month to slightly beyond $9.4 million. 

This came as its corresponding slot receipts dropped by 6.8% to $8.4 million, while its gaming tables chalked up 13.6% less business to a little over $1 million.

Public Profits 

All of this saw the 19 casinos in Iowa pay some $28.2 million in April tax, which was a fall of 12.4% month-on-month, and contribute 12.5% less to the state’s County Endowment Fund Program at $1.1 million. 

The venues additionally handed over approximately $1.3 million in combined city and county levies and contributed about $275,000 to a variety of other community-facing funds.