St. Louis Casinos Down 5% To $83 In April

The city of St. Louis in the Midwestern state of Missouri has released its casino figures for April revealing a 5.2% decline in revenues to $83.2 million compared to the $88 million taken in the same month in 2013.
Last month, just two of St. Louis’ six casinos reported an increase in revenues year-over-year, namely Ameristar St. Charles up 1% to $21.8 million compared to April 2013; and the River City Casino in Lemay up 3% to $17.5 million.
The $380 million River City Casino opened in March 2010 and has since proved a major contributor to the Lemay area’s local economy, with its Port Authority receiving around $4 million annually towards Community Investment projects. As St. Louis County Economic Development Council CEO Denny Coleman, commented two years after the venue was built:
“It helped us redevelop a contaminated and almost worthless site that was in the flood plain. We’re not trying to change the nature of the community; we are just trying to enhance the quality of life of the community as it exists. If we can do that by making adjustments to the infrastructure, create some new businesses, and provide some low-interest loans for people to fix up their houses, that’s a good thing.”
On the other side of the coin, Argosy Alton reported a 22% decline in April’s revenues to $4.6 million; Lumiere Place was down 14% to $11.1 million; Casino Queen in East St. Louis was down 12% to $9.5 million; and Hollywood Casino St. Louis in Maryland Heights was down 5% to $18.7 million compared to April 2013.
Interestingly, April marked Lumière Place’s first complete month as a Tropicana Entertainment property after the gaming company purchased the venue for $260 million from Pinnacle Entertainment. The casino’s gambling revenues had been in steady decline under Pinnacle Entertainment, and unfortunately Tropicana’s first month of ownership shows the casino not only down 14% year-over-year, but also down 15% compared to the previous month, according to the Missouri Gaming Commission.