Biloxi casino revenue for first quarter 2015 rose 3.5 percent over the same period last year, and even greater returns are expected, said Chevis Swetman, president of the Peoples Bank in Biloxi. He explained New Orleans’ citywide smoking ban, including Harrah’s Casino, already has helped boost business at nearby Silver Slipper and Hollywood Casino in Bay St. Louis. “Thank God for Louisiana politicians because they’re going to drive that business to us,” he said, adding, with gas prices less than a year ago, “We’re going to have a great summer.”
The picture was not so rosy 10 years ago, Swetman noted during a presentation, “Katrina + 10,” at IP Casino Resort during the Southern Gaming Summit. That’s when Hurricane Katrina hit, devastating the then-third-largest casino market in the nation. In August 2005, one month prior to Katrina, South Mississippi’s casino revenue was $150 million, said Jerry St. Pé, former chairman of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. The following month, revenue plunged to zero and remained at zero through November. Most of the region’s 13,000 employees were unemployed.
Just a few days after the storm, St. Pé and former Gaming Commission Director Larry Gregory flew to Las Vegas to ask officials at major casino companies if they would rebuild. “There was no hesitation about their plans to come back,” St. Pé said. The casino officials wanted to be sure the state would not pay for hurricane damages by raising casino taxes, plus they wanted the option to rebuild on land.
In December 2005, IP Casino reopened. “That really took us to a new level,” said Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. In 2007, casino revenue hit $3 billion. “That is a tremendous amount of money generated from this state,” Godfrey said.
Biloxi attorney Michael Cavanaugh said it seemed as though South Mississippi hit a post-Katrina gold rush, as new developers considered building and existing properties bought land. But then the recession hit. “That’s when we learned the gaming industry is not recession-proof,” Cavanaugh said. The BP oil spill soon followed, as well as more competition.
Other missteps occurred, such as allowing Margaritaville Casino, which has since closed, to be built without a hotel. “The location is a difficult location. I don’t care what you put there. It had no hotel, it really had no amenities,”, but it had a great brand, Cavanaugh said.
More recently, to prevent other casinos from abandoning South Mississippi, the state passed a law requiring casinos to spend as much on amenities as on the casino structure. Former Gaming Commissioner Len Blackwell called that “a genius idea” that helped attract new casino business. Noted Swetman, casinos including Golden Nugget Casino Biloxi and Silver Slipper Casino have invested millions in the area. “So, there’s a lot of things happening,” he said.
