The Mississippi Coast’s 12 casinos posted a combined $106.4 million in gross revenue in December—a 7.5 percent increase over December 2017 and the best December in 26 years, according to the Mississippi Gaming Commission. Analysts said the results were due to legalized sports betting. Previously Gulf casinos topped $100 million in December 2007, reaching $103 million due to the post-Hurricane Katrina construction boom. Gross revenue from slot machines and table games is taxed at 12 percent in Mississippi.
Mississippi Gaming Commission figures indicated Coast casinos generated total gross revenue of $1.24 billion in 2018, a 4 percent increase over 2017, making it Coast casinos’ best year since 2008. Also 2018 was the third-best year following $1.30 billion in 2007 and $1.26 billion in 2008. Sports betting, which started August 1 at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi and Gold Strike in Tunica, helped Coast casinos surpass the $1.23 billion posted in pre-Katrina 2004.
From August through December, bettors placed $157.6 million in wagers at Mississippi’s 23 sports books, for an average of $31.5 million a month. In December, during the last weeks of the NFL regular season, fans bet $40.9 million. The casinos’ gross revenue from sports betting was $14.8 million for the year.
Revenue from sports betting isn’t nearly as large as it is from slot machines. However, Golden Nugget Casino Biloxi Vice President of Marketing and Resort Operations Scott King said, “It’s certainly more than we ever anticipated.” King said Coast casinos have contributed 58-60 percent of the state’s overall revenue, with South Mississippi casinos sports book win contributing nearly 70 percent. “Kind of like the inverse of the lottery,” people from Louisiana are driving to Mississippi to bet on sports, just as Mississippi residents head to Louisiana to buy lottery tickets when the jackpots are huge, King said.
Sports betting also has helped river casinos stop the steady decline in revenue that has occurred every year since 2012. Gaming commission numbers show Tunica casinos decreased less than 1 percent and the lower river casinos increased less than 1 percent for 2018. With the Coast’s 4 percent increase, state casino revenue rose 2 percent for 2018, making it the best year since 2012 with revenue of $2.12 billion.
