A sharp drop in revenue of 10% reported Northwest Indiana casinos; in May, 2016 the five operators along Lake Michigan’s shore generated $79.3 million, a number drastically lower than the results of $88.2 million published for the same period last year.

Additionally, there was a y-o-y decrease in attendance as well; thus, in May, 2015 the properties were visited by 933,106 customers, whereas this year the number fell at 847,458. In general, all Indiana casinos noted a decline in revenue as well. The 13 properties generated around $186 million last month, which is for 6.7% lower than last year’s performance of $199.4 million.

However, one possible explanation for the results was given by the general manager of Ameristar Casino, Matt Schuffert and it was confirmed by Horseshoe Casino’s general manager Dan Nita too. Namely, in 2015, May had five full weekends, which wasn’t the case this year. According to Nita, the loss of two weekend days can have a negative impact of 4-6%. Also, both managers pointed out that, coincidentally, many players had luck on their side and left casinos “pretty happy last month.”

In terms of individual performance, Ameristar Casino saw a large drop of 14.4% from $21.3 million to $18.3 million y-o-y. The largest establishment in the area, Horseshoe, noted an 11% decrease in revenue; in May, 2015 the casino generated $38.2 million, while in May, 2016 the operator scooped lower $34 million. Blue Chip Casino’s $13.6 million revealed a 4% decline from $14.1 million scored the same period last year. Finally, Gary’s Majestic Star boats’ y-o-y revenue fall was 7.4% to $13.5 million from $14.6 million reported last May.

Despite these negative results, Ameristar’s general manager Schuffert expressed hopes to see the market get back to its good days during the summer.