During its first-quarter earnings call this week, Churchill Downs Inc. provided updates on the progress of its Terre Haute Casino Resort. The casino and some of its eating establishments are open, but other areas of the property remain closed.
It’s Churchill’s first casino in Indiana.
The $290 million casino resort groundbreaking was in mid-2022. Earlier this month, the gaming floor welcomed patrons to 1,000 slot machines and 35 table games, including live poker, a sportsbook, six bars and five restaurants.
Churchill Downs estimates the resort will create over 500 jobs.
Terre Haute Casino enjoys ‘a great start’
Indiana operates 12 state-licensed casinos. Indiana online casinos remain illegal. Efforts by lawmakers to change that have failed so far in the General Assembly.
The CEO of Churchill Downs Inc. (CDI), Bill Carstanjen, lauded the success of Terre Haute Casino to investors during the earnings call.
“We held the grand opening for our Terre Haute casino in Indiana on April 5, on time and on budget. We had over 12,000 people visit the property on opening day.”
Carstanjen also provided insight into the profitability of the casino resort moving forward.
“As a point of reference for how strong the initial demand is at the property, the total coin-in on opening day surpassed the largest day that we have ever had at Derby City Gaming, a great start. While the daily volumes have since come down, we have been extremely pleased with the performance, and we are well ahead of our projections.”
According to the resort’s website, the project’s next phase involves opening a luxury hotel with a rooftop lounge, pool and high-end dining establishments on May 15.
Carstanjen confirmed that the next phase is moving along as planned.
“Since we will be a destination for people from Indianapolis, our 122-room hotel opening in mid-May should propel our performance even more, again, a great start and congratulations to our Terre Haute team.”
The hotel is now accepting reservations for the mid-May opening.
CDI reports a bright future for company
In addition to the Indiana update, CDI revealed its overall financial picture during the earnings call.
The company enjoyed record first-quarter net revenue of $590.9 million, a 6% increase over last year. However, CDI’s net income dropped to $80.4 million, a whopping 48% decrease from the previous year.
Nonetheless, CFO Marcia Dall painted a rosy picture for the future. She said CDI will begin “to deliver significant adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) growth” for its investments in Kentucky, Virginia and Indiana in 2025.
