French Lick’s revenues, attendance lowest in state

A year after opening its doors, the French Lick Resort Casino has not exactly hit the jackpot. \nWhile the attraction has drawn thousands of badly needed tourists to traditionally poor Orange County, the casino trails its competitors in the state, mostly due to its location and people’s overly high expectations for the casino, experts said. \nIn the year since it opened in November 2006, the French Lick casino was last among 11 casinos in the state in total taxes paid and gross receipts and 10th in attendance, according to monthly reports compiled by the Indiana Gaming Commission. The casino’s best month of attendance was its first, November 2006, when it ranked sixth in the state. But for the next five months, the casino was last in the state in attendance. \nNumbers climbed slightly once the highly publicized West Baden Springs Hotel opened in May, but settled near the bottom of the pack on the casino’s first anniversary. And besides the low turnstile counts, French Lick trailed other casinos in the amount of money patrons are spending. In 10 of the casino’s first 12 months, French Lick ranked last in the state in adjusted gross receipts, the amount of the money the casino takes in. \nEd Feigenbaum, editor of Indiana Gaming Insight, said the French Lick area has inherent limitations that keep its attendance figures down. \n“This is a discrete market area that draws from within the state,” he said. “Car access is an issue. This casino is not on any major road. ... And look at the marketing radius. There’s a much smaller population base than other casinos. There’s no Chicago, Louisville or Cincinnati near French Lick.” \nFeigenbaum does not foresee turnstile counts going up any time soon at French Lick. \n“I’m not sure attendance is going to go up considerably. ... Now they’re probably focusing on establishing a strong base,” he said. \nBut Dyan Welsh, spokesperson for the French Lick Casino Resort, said the casino’s first year met expectations despite its low numbers. \n“Recent reports have drawn attention to the fact that French Lick Resort Casino’s numbers do not mirror that of the other casinos throughout the state,” Welsh said in a press release. “The casino’s success will not be measured like a typical riverboat casino – that is by casino attendance figures and gross gaming revenues. ... French Lick is developing a world-class destination resort that just so happens to have a casino.” \nThe casino’s business model is based on building a resort destination that offers gaming and other amenities, such as historic hotels, an events center and horse stables, Welsh said. And after the West Baden Springs Hotel opened last summer, attendance rose for three months straight. \nBut many of the resort’s attractions are not even open yet. For instance, the Pete Dye Golf Course at French Lick will not open until next spring, she said. \nLaura Littlepage, senior policy analyst for the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment at IU-Purdue University Indianapolis, said the casino did not meet its first-year projections because expectations for the $400 million project were too high, especially considering the fact that many of the resort’s amenities were not open at the time the casino opened its doors. \nOfficials also probably overestimated the casino’s expectations to increase interest from possible investors, she said. \n“It hasn’t brought as much to the community as they hoped for,” Littlepage said. “They’ve added jobs and money to the community, but as far as restaurants and small businesses, there’s been very little growth. That’s because the casino is a self-contained unit. No one needs to go anywhere else in French Lick to get what they need.”\nLittlepage said if the casino wants to attract more business, it needs to build awareness of its uniqueness in southern Indiana. \n“There’s nothing like it for 50 miles around,” Littlepage said. “While the numbers of people in this radius are low, French Lick is the closest location of its kind for much of the region. ... They should be stressing this.”