Before Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, the Gulf Coast was the nation’s third-largest gaming market. Mississippi’s 12 casinos floated on the water. After Katrina, only two of those 12 casinos did not reopen, Casino Magic Biloxi and Copa in Gulfport. Two others were built in the following years. The post-Katrina Margaritaville closed but another is scheduled to open this year. The replacement casinos all have been secured on land.
Keith Crosby, general manager at the Palace Casino Resort, said recovering from Katrina forced everyone involved in the Coastal casino and tourism industries to “reassess what we were doing — the whole breadth and width of the product.” He noted, “Maybe Katrina actually spared us some failures. There was all the talk before that we were going to be a tier 1 destination. That’s unrealistic.”
State House Gaming Chairman Richard Bennett said he believes “we’re in better shape on the Coast with casinos than we were before Katrina,” mainly because the casinos have been built on land. “I think we have a better product, and even though the market has been down, we are continuing to grow. I think with the Scarlet Pearl coming in D’Iberville, the industry is watching what happens, whether it grows the market or just takes a piece of the pie that’s already there.”
Looking ahead, Crosby said, “I don’t think we’ll see any further expansion but a refinement of the overall package, adjusting to the marketplace. We’re saturated. Nobody wants to say it. At first, the uniqueness of gaming was all you needed to have. But the hayride that we were on is over. Now, you’ve got to have a resort component. What everybody offers has started to grow and become more important.”
Pre-Katrina, coastal casinos’ gross revenue went from $1.15 billion in 2001 to $886 million up to August 28, 2005. It peaked at $1.26 billion in 2008, and in 2014 hit $1.08 billion, according to the Mississippi Department of Revenue. As of June 30, 2005, there were 13,951 casino jobs; as of December 31, 2014 there were 11,707, according to the Mississippi Gaming and Hospitality Association and Mississippi Gaming Commission.
However, an upward trend since April led to a strong July with a statewide win of $189.5 million, up 5 percent from $180.3 million in July 2014. The 11 coastal casinos won $104.2 million, up 9 percent from last year. That’s the 10th monthly increase in the last year for coastal casinos. Statewide revenue has increased more than 2 percent in 2015.
In Biloxi, the MGM Park, located across from its Beau Rivage resort, opened in June. MGM Resorts Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jim Murren said the community needed MGM Park as part of the Katrina recovery efforts. The $36 million stadium was created through a public-private partnership, which included $15 million of state money from a multibillion-dollar grant that petroleum giant BP provided following the 2009 Gulf Coast oil spill. The 6,098-seat venue has 12 luxury boxes, picnic seating in the outfield and spectacular views of Gulf of Mexico sunsets. It’s the home of the Biloxi Shuckers, the Double-A franchise of the Milwaukee Brewers. Governor Phil Bryant has said baseball could have an economic impact in Biloxi of $10 million a year.
