Caesars Entertainment Corporation announced it will close Harrah’s Tunica Casino on June 2, 2017 due to “declines in business levels in the area stemming from increased competition.” Caesars Entertainment Central Division President John Payne said the decision was made “after exploring every other viable alternative.” The casino has been for sale and Caesars officials said the company will keep trying to sell it up to the closing date.
In a statement, Caesars said it remains “committed to the Tunica area,” where it also operates Horseshoe Tunica and Tunica Roadhouse Hotel and Casino. Officials said the company will help Harrah’s 1,300 employees find new positions.
The Tunica-area market never recovered from the 2011 floods when casinos briefly closed. Gaming operators in nearby states took advantage of the situation with upgrades and heavy marketing. As a result, those competitors—including commercial and Native American casinos and racinos—have been taking business away. Since 2008, Tunica-area casino revenue has declined more than 25 percent, from $1.1 billion to $826 million. Attendance also has dropped nearly 61 percent, from 16 million to 6.3 million, industry officials recently told the Mississippi House Gaming Committee.
The committee chairman, state Rep. Richard Bennett, said, “Even though it’s hurting, Tunica is still a viable market.” He noted, “The state is going to have to, at some time, look at casinos as being a legitimate business and may have to help them like we do others. We don’t provide them any tax breaks, even on the tourism aspect, golf courses, hotels, nothing.”
Tunica Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Webster Franklin agreed.
“We don’t treat the gaming industry the way we treat every other industry in our state. And if that continues, events like Harrah’s closing will continue to happen.”
In November, Tunica and the state’s other Mississippi River casinos—16 in all—posted revenue decreases of 4 percent to $67 million, for declines in 45 of the last 53 months, according to state revenue department figures.
At the state’s 12 coastal casinos, in November gamblers lost $88 million , a drop of 4 percent compared to November 2015–the sixth decrease for the region in the last 30 months. But year-to-date, Coast casino posted revenue of $1.1 billion–$42.6 million ahead of the same period last year. For the entire year, South Mississippi casinos are expected to top 2015 total revenue, but fall short of pre-Katrina $1.23 billion in 2004, when the state’s casinos had much less competition.
Statewide, Mississippi casinos won $155 million in November, down from $161 million in November 2015. In October, revenue was up 7 percent statewide, helped by five Saturdays and Sundays in the month.
Revenue numbers exclude Choctaw Indian casinos, which don’t report winnings to the state.
Mississippi’s 30 casinos employ more than 23,000 people. Taxes and other collections provide about 5 percent of the state government budget.
