Last year, Southland Park Gaming and Racing in West Memphis, Arkansas took in .7 billion in wagers, paying more than million in annual tax revenue to West Memphis, Crittenden County and the state of Arkansas.
In 2004, Southland was a greyhound racetrack only, and took in $86 million in wagers. Less than an hour south, Tunica’s nine casinos took in more than $1.2 billion.
In 2005, the Arkansas legislature allowed the state’s two gambling destinations, West Memphis and Hot Springs, home of Oaklawn Racing & Gaming (then Oaklawn Park Racetrack) to install electronic games of skill following a voter referendum which passed with a three-fifths majority. In 2006 Southland started construction on a $40 million casino. Today, although decreasing numbers of patrons observe the greyhound races from the 10,000-seat, air-conditioned stands, the 1,900 electronic gaming devices inside the casino stay busy 24/7.
Business picked up in West Memphis when the Mississippi River flooded in spring 2011, forcing Tunica casinos to close for a month. Within three years, Southland completed a $37 million expansion with bars, restaurants and entertainment that attracted huge numbers of Memphis-area residents.
But a casino in Memphis remains unlikely. The concept briefly was considered in the 1990s. Lawmakers from east and middle Tennessee lawmakers, as well as social conservatives of all races in Memphis and nearby DeSoto County, have opposed casinos in the state. State Senator Lee Harris said, “I haven’t heard anyone talking lately about putting casinos in Memphis, but if we had one it would go a long way toward solving the city’s financial problems.”
In the meantime, the 33 restaurants, shops and nightclubs in the Beale Street Historic District, Tennessee’s largest tourist attraction that opened in Memphis in 1983, draw 6 million visitors annually and generate $40-$50 million in annual sales.
In Mississippi in 2016, statewide casino winnings dropped to $2.1 billion from $2.7 billion in 2007. Wagers at Tunica’s eight remaining casinos totaled $634 million, half the take of 2004. Tunica’s largest gaming property, Harrah’s Tunica, closed in 2014, laying off 1,200 employees.
Once the major gaming destination between Atlantic City and Las Vegas, Tunica still employs 5,000 casino hotel workers. Webster Franklin, chief executive of the Tunica County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said, “The Tunica casinos are producing $600 million a year. That’s nothing to sneeze at. But today we’ve got to look at ways existing properties can compete with the competition that is everywhere now.”
Franklin added casino owners must be encouraged to reinvest in the Tunica district, especially since the casinos’ 25-year-old barges are nearing replacement age. After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, lawmakers allowed Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos to move a short distance inland. Franklin said lawmakers could allow Tunica casinos to relocate on land closer to U.S. 61, the main highway. The Jackson-based Mississippi Economic Council recently announced plans to commission a policy study to determine how lawmakers can work with and assist gambling operators, to utilize gaming as a tool for economic growth, tourism and jobs.
Meanwhile at Southland, owned by Delaware North Companies Gaming & Entertainment of Buffalo, New York, more than 700 workers were paid about $25 million in wages last year. Kennel operators received more than $28 million and another $35 million went to city, county and state taxes. Delaware North also has pledged $1 million to Arkansas State University Mid-South’s Jeremy M. Jacobs Hospitality Management program, named for the company’s chairman Jeremy M. Jacobs, one of America’s 400 richest men whose personal wealth exceeds $4 billion.
