Biloxi was holding pretty well compared to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, but after this report, not looking too good…
June was a wake-up month for Mississippi casinos, which saw the kind of bad hand dealt casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City for well over a year.
The gross casino revenue reported monthly by the Mississippi State Tax Commission showed Coast casinos down 28 percent compared to last June. The river casinos were down 13 percent and the state overall saw a 20 percent drop in casino revenue.
June 2008 was the fifth- best month on record, when the Coast casinos won $114.6 million.
There are 11 casinos now compared to 12 before Hurricane Katrina.
August 2008 was the last time the Coast casinos saw a better month than the previous year.
This the 10th straight decline.
On Wednesday, the Southern Gaming Summit at the Mississippi Coast Convention Center will include a financial roundtable that will bring together bankers and analysts to address the recession and global credit crisis.
That’s followed by a State of the Industry report from Virginia McDowell, president of Isle of Capri Casinos; John Payne, president of Harrah’s Entertainment’s Central Division, and Tom Wilmott, president of Penn National Gaming, parent company of Boomtown Biloxi and Hollywood Casino Bay St. Louis.
They know first hand the casino industry in Biloxi has many of the same challenges as businesses around the country.
“Right now everyone is aware of the financial constraints in the market,” said Larry Gregory, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. Almost all new development is on hold, he said, and most existing casinos are waiting on expansion plans.
Some progress is being made on new casino projects, but John Ellis, one of the developers of Blue Water Bay Resort, said it is probably three years before the casino resort near Pass Christian will be operational.
More info at SunHerald.com
Beau Rivage Resort and Casino officials say 56-year-old Diane Harrison Kennedy won $998,102 on Friday while playing a Wheel of Fortune progressive slot machine. Her payout came after she’d put only $40 into the machine.
Kennedy says she was in Biloxi for a conference and decided to go have fun at the casino during her free time.
