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Mississippi Coast Celebrates as the Rest of the Country Tumbles

Posted on September 18th, 2010

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Mississippi’s casino industry has finally something to be happy about despite always being in the worst of disasters—from hurricanes to oil spills. After more than a year, for the first time, revenue of casinos in the state’s coast went over the $100 million mark in the month August. Moreover, the Coast casinos in southern Mississippi outperformed its counterparts in the Mississippi River for the first time in over 15 years. The Coast casinos, which now number to eleven in total, had earnings amounting to $101.3 million in August of 2010. This is a 5.6 percent increase compared to the figures of the same month last year. On the other hand, the river casinos, all 19 of them, amassed winnings of $100.7 million, which is a decrease of 7.9 percent compared to August 2009 figures. The good earnings posted by the casinos in the Coast placated fears of economists that the oil spill in the Gulf may decrease casino attendance there, causing a possible tumble in Coast casino revenue while tourists opt to be far from the oil-contaminated beaches.

The director of the International Development doctoral program at University of Southern Mississippi, David Butler, said that this development is good news, showing that the casinos have braved a supposedly major stumbling block. He adds that the customers did not really see a connection between the dangerous beaches and casinos. Eight of the 11 casinos in Biloxi reported their best performance since 2008, winning in august $78.6 million. As a whole, the casinos of the Coast have, in August, had their best figures in a year and a month. Biloxi major A.J. Holloway in his comments about the report says, “Any time you have an increase these days, it’s encouraging, but before we have a parade, let’s remember this is just one month. It’s good news but we are far from out of the woods.”

The Gulf Coast Business Council’s research and policy director, Scott King, said that for the past three months, Coast casino revenue has been encouraging. Figures have been up two of the last three months, which is a very rare occurrence in the casino industry these days, as most reports are riddled with losses and decreases in incomes. The chairman of the House Gaming Committee of Mississippi, Bobby Moak was quick to point out that each of the casinos in neighboring Louisiana was down. He speculates that the gaming market may have decided that it was time to play in the Coast. He adds that in usually , “August is historically one of the good months but it’s not one of the best months.” The fact that the Coast casinos emerged on top over the river casinos despite the environmental disaster, according to him, is a huge step.

He also noted that the efforts to promote the casinos during the oil spill in June and July required a lot of spending, and the good results show that the efforts did pay off. King added that a good portion of the money given by oil firm BP was used for this effort. Harrison County Tourism Commission president Kenneth Montana opines, “I think it’s a combination of everyone’s efforts. It’s been a total team effort.” It was the idea of Montana’s commission to use funds funneled by BP to tourism promotion. He adds that his group expects a continued influx of visitors as South Mississippi will be celebrating 10 weeks of fall festival events. Festivities have started last week with the Biloxi Seafood Festival kicking off the festival to last until the start of December and hauling huge crowds at that. Two talents native to the area, Michael Grimm, the winner of the latest season of “America’s Got Talent,” and Whitney Miller who won another reality program, “MasterChef” have become additional attractions.

Elsewhere, the news has not been encouraging. In the East Coast, figures have not been positive as well, as all 11 casinos in Atlantic City recorded losses in the month of August. Figures report winnings of $347.5 million, which is a double digit decrease of 11.3 percent from August of last year. The poor performance of AC casinos has been blamed on the opening of table game facilities for the first time in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania.