The Kansas Lottery Commission recently reported Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway posted $9.34 million in gaming revenue for August 2020 compared to $13.16 million for August 2019, a drop of 29 percent. However, August revenue came in at $800,000 more than July figures. Kansas Lottery Director of Program Assurance and Integrity Keith Kocher said, “Casinos are doing the best they can. It’s challenging but they are continuing to be safe and get as many in as they feel comfortable coming in.”
Kocher noted the four state-owned casinos are running about 18 percent behind 2019 figures. They’re operating at lower occupancy and with fewer open hours due to cleaning and sanitizing. He said when casinos reopened after Covid-19 closures, “they saw a lot of pent-up demand. The demand has leveled off somewhat now. It seems that they’re reasonably happy with what’s going on right now and everyone wants to see the numbers go back up to normal.”
Hollywood Casino Vice President and General Manager Rick Skinner noted admissions were down 41 percent in August 2020 compared to August 2019. Slots produced revenue of $8.8 million, a decrease of 24.4 percent, and table games revenue was $572,000, a drop of 57 percent. The poker room has not reopened.
Lottery Director of Finance Matthew Schwartz said last year he projected $410 in total state casino revenue for 2021. Now he has revised that projection to $311 million, a decrease of 25 percent.
Hollywood Casino pays 3 percent of the gaming revenue in taxes to the Unified Government and 22 percent to the state of Kansas.
