- Thirty days of operations collected $13.7 million in revenues.
- The total is more than double the property’s earlier record via a temporary location.
- The casino includes 1,300 slots and 44 table games.
After moving to its permanent location on East State Street a month ago, the Hard Rock Casino Rockford is experiencing a huge boost in earnings.
The property opened in its new location on Labor Day Weekend and, after the first month, generated $13.7 million in revenues, which was earned after winners were paid out prizes. The total is more than double the $6.6 million set in May by the venue’s temporary location.
A Busy Month
It seems players were ready to check out the permanent venue once it opened. After the month ended, just over 157,000 players visited the new property to play games and enjoy dining. Hard Rock Rockford President Geno Iafrate stated in an email that the first full month of operations was a success, and the guest feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
The casino is focused on building on the first month’s momentum and bringing even more guests to Rockford. The casino is 65,000 square feet in size and offers around 1,300 slot games. The table game area houses just under four dozen games, and a special room features six baccarat tables.
There is also a poker room where players can participate in special events and ring games. The casino generated the bulk of its earnings from slots, $12.7 million, and around $1 million from table games.
Moving Up in the Rankings
With the successful month, Hard Rock moved up to second in revenues in Illinois among all 15 casinos. The only other venue that pushed ahead was Rivers Casino, which generated over $41 million in September. Hard Rock pushed ahead of Bally’s, which is the third-place finisher, bringing in $10.3 million. Bally’s is also in its temporary phase, so we may see them push ahead of Hard Rock once a permanent location is open.
From its earnings, Hard Rock provided just over $843,000 in taxes to local governments. The permanent casino was expected to boost overall earnings and will continue to bring in much-needed funds for the state.
The casino plans to invest a large share of gaming revenues back into the community, with Rockford Promise scholarships, police and fire station maintenance service, and economic development. Funds will also be available for public safety pensions.
It will be interesting to see how the casino fares are moving forward and if the earnings will continue, or if this was a one-time boost due to the new permanent location opening. Either way, the state will benefit from more revenues as players continue to visit the new casino venue.
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