Louisiana Casino Revenue Falls To $227m In February

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board has released its casino results for February, revealing a decline in revenue to $226.9 million, down $6.6 million from the same month in 2012.
Breaking the figures down further, Louisiana’s only land-based casino, Harrah’s casino in New Orleans, recorded a 9.7% increase in revenue to $31.7 million in February. However, the state’s 13 licensed riverboat casinos saw their revenues decline by 9.7% to $159.9 million over the same period.
The state also has four slot machine casinos located at horse tracks across Louisiana. Overall, these racetracks took in $35.2 million in February, down 5.4% compared to a year earlier. Leading the list of fallers was Louisiana Downs, which experienced a 18.4% decline in revenue, followed by Evangeline Downs race track, which too saw an 18.4% decline in its revenue to $8 million. Bucking the trend slightly was the Delta Downs, which won almost $16.5 million in February, up $404,900 from the same month last year.
One of the factors affecting Louisiana’s gaming results has been the shaky economy, but also contributing to its lackluster results has been the increased competition coming from Native American casinos in Oklahoma, which have grown exponentially since being legalized in 2005.
Louisiana’s gaming industry has generated $14.3 billion in revenue since being legalized in 1991, but in a sign of changing trends in the US, the state is now looking into the prospects of legalizing online gambling, too. As Louisiana State Representative Rep. Mike Huval explained recently: “Louisiana has the potential to benefit economically by legalizing Internet gaming.”
Huval has even got fellow legislators analyzing the potential for online gambling in Louisiana and has asked for a report on their findings to be presented before the 2014 legislature.