Since the Scarlet Pearl Casino opened in December 2015 in D’Iberville, Mississippi, revenue has dropped at the eight casinos in Biloxi. For those operations, total gross casino revenue of 7 million at the end of 2015 fell to 8 million at the end of 2016—a drop of million, or about .4 million a month, according to Mississippi Gaming Commission numbers.
With a miniature golf course featuring an erupting volcano, Scarlet Pearl met the commission’s latest regulations requiring a new casino to have at least a 300-room hotel and an amenity that will help grow the market, not cause cannibalization.
The 12 coastal casinos posted an increase of $45 million for 2016. However, the Biloxi casinos’ losses show more players visited Scarlet Pearl rather than crossing the bridge into Biloxi. Numbers for January—usually one of the slowest months for coastal casinos– indicate revenue fell by $1.5 million, or 1.5 percent, to $99.1 million, according to a Department of Revenue report.
Competition from neighboring states has caused Mississippi’s river casinos to lose revenue. In January, they posted a decline of $10.3 million, or 13 percent. As a result, statewide, casino revenue dropped $11.8 million, or 5.5 percent, in January.
The good news is that South Mississippi casino revenue increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2016 to $1.2 billion. But the bad news is that total is $84 million lower than pre-Hurricane Katrina casino revenue.
