Mississippi Casino Revenues Jump 7% in November

The state of Mississippi’s casino industry has just experienced its best November since 2011, with revenues rising by 7% to $174 million last month compared to the $161.17 million collected in November of 2015.
That figure also represents the second largest growth rate of the year, with just January’s increase of 7.6% higher. The Magnolia State has now posted year on-year revenue gains for seven out of eleven months in 2016, according to the statistics released by the Mississippi Revenue Department.
In November, the financial results told a familiar tale with Mississippi coastal casinos helping to offset the losses reported by the state’s river casinos. In fact, last month the 12 coastal casinos generated 13% more revenues at $99 million, marking their 24th monthly increase over the past two-and-a-half years.
By contrast, the 16 Mississippi river casinos saw their business dip by 1% to $74 million, but while their revenues have now declined in 44 out of the last 52 months, those contractions have been getting smaller of late bringing hope of their eventual return to growth.
So far this year, Mississippi casinos have generated $1.97 billion in revenues, almost two per cent more than they did over the same period a year ago, and with just December’s results to come, Mississippi is now set to return only its second positive annual growth in eight years. Mississippi’s casino market peaked at $3 billion in 2007, and over the ensuing years the industry has started to focus more on generating non-direct gambling revenues. As Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, previously explained:
“It’s not about gambling anymore; it’s about entertainment and promoting tourism and all those things that go along with that.”
Mississippi opened its first legal casino in 1992, and today the state has around 30 casinos which draw more than 20 million visitors each year, and provide direct and indirect employment for 35,000 people. Currently, Mississippi is also the USA’s sixth biggest casino market, behind Nevada, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Illinois and New Jersey.
2016 Casino Results:
January $177.54m
February $190.32m
March $188.32m
April $180.86m
May $176.8m
June $175.24m
July $189.29m
August $170.97m
September $171.45m
October $173.57m
November $174m