Louisiana Casino Revenue Up 5.8% To $228 Million In March 2012

Louisiana’s casino results for March have been released revealing a 5.8% increase in revenue to $227.9 million, compared to the $215.4 million won in the same month last year.
Impressively, all Louisiana’s casino markets reported gains compared to March last year with the state’s 12 riverboat casinos up 5.3% to $154.1 million, Harrah’s New Orleans up 6.2% to $35.8 million, and the state’s four race track casinos winning $38 million. 
In recent history, Louisiana casinos have been in the doldrums, especially after the devastating Hurricane Katrina of 2005 caused millions of dollars of damage to the properties and forced many to close for months. That was followed a few years later by the global recession, and only last year more floods caused further drops in revenue for the casinos.
Furthermore, Louisiana was once considered one of America’s four gambling hot-spots, but now has to contend with much greater competition from neighbouring state’s, along with other top destinations Nevada, Mississippi, and New Jersey.
However, the last two months have seen Louisiana casinos revenues jump 8.7% in February, and now 5.8% in March fueling speculation that the state’s gaming industry is on the road to recovery. Commenting on the solid results, Spectrum Gaming Group Analyst Joe Weinert, said:
“Most jurisdictions would be happy with a 5.8% growth, especially during a time when people aren’t feeling good about their finances.”
In total, Louisiana casinos contributed $57.5 million taxes for March. In addition, the state’s revenue potentials may soon increase with the three new riverboat casinos planned for Lake Charles, Baton Rouge and Shreveport-Bossier City. However, it is difficult to speculate to what extent revenues will be affected as, according to Joe Weinert:
“It varies market by market, property by property. There will be some cannibalization, and some expansion of the market, but there’s no tried and true predictor.”