Louisiana Casinos Up 12.8% To $206.1m In September

The Louisiana State Police have released their casino results for September, revealing an impressive 12.8% increase in revenues to $206.1 million, compared to the $182.8 million reported for the same month in 2014.This covers the Pelican State’s overall casino market, which consists of 15 riverboats, four racetrack slots and one land-based casino spread throughout New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Shreveport-Bossier, Lake Charles, and Opelousas.
In September, the New Orleans market saw its revenues rise by 4% to $49.1 million, with the land-based Harrah’s casino accounting for $24.5 million of that tally, up 2% compared to last year. That was welcome news, as Harrah’s had been complaining about a hit to its bottom-line since a citywide smoking ban was introduced on April 22nd of this year. The following month, Harrah’s then saw its revenues drop from $28.8 million to $24.1 million, and as Jade Brown Russell, the casino’s spokeswoman explained at the time:
“We are currently experiencing greater declines from our local business, while casinos in surrounding jurisdictions are enjoying record highs. You do have to stop the game [to go outside and smoke]. And once you’re playing, you don’t want to leave. You don’t go back to the same spot, usually, and that’s the problem.”
Leading New Orlean’s river boats in terms of growth was Treasure Chest up 10.6% ($8.1m), followed by Boomtown New Orleans up 8.3% ($9.4m), and The Amelia Belle up 5.3% ($3.8m). In fact, only the Fair Grounds racino reported a decline in growth, with revenues falling by 8.5% to $3.2 million.
Meanwhile, Louisiana’s largest casino market, Lake Charles reported a 38.3% improvement in revenues to $72.6 million, thanks mostly to its newest venue, the Golden Nugget. Elsewhere, the Baton Rouge’s three riverboat casinos generated 2.8% more revenues at $21.7 million, compared to the $21.1 million collected in September 2014; Shreveport-Bossier City revenues increased by 1.1% to $56.1 million last month; and finally Opelousas was up by 2.8% to $6.7 million, year-on-year.