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Casino Envy? Southern Indiana Casinos Dreading Competition from New Kentucky Casinos

Horseshoe Southern Indiana (as well as Casinos like Belterra) could lose about 40 percent of its customers (about $118 million) in wagering revenue if casinos were to open in Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky.

That would reduce Horseshoe’s tax payments to state and local governments by as much as $44 million annually. A critical blow to the state’s budget.

The data was part of a report made Monday to the Indiana Gaming Study Committee, which is considering ways the state might brace for gambling competition from surrounding states.

The report’s author, Jim Landers, an analyst with the nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency, said Indiana could lose as much as $250 million in overall annual revenue if Kentucky and Ohio added casinos and Michigan expanded its gambling options.

The biggest impacts would occur along the Ohio River, he said.

The three casinos in Southeast Indiana — Belterra near Vevay, Grand Victoria in Rising Sun and Hollywood in Lawrenceburg — could lose as much as 45 percent of their annual admissions if casinos opened in Northern Kentucky and Lexington.

That could cost Indiana’s state and local governments as much as $112 million annually.

The opening of casinos in Ohio would have a slightly smaller impact on casinos in Southeast Indiana, the report said.

We’ll keep you posted.