Mississippi Casinos Less and Less Profitable

Mississippi is slowly dropping on the scale of the most profitable casino states in the US, and now finds itself number five on the ladder – behind New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Nevada.

There are a number of factors that have affected the Magnolia State’s dream of pushing past New Jersey to become number two on the scale. For starters, this year saw some of the worst floodings in the past 100 years in Mississippi, forcing a number of casinos to close their doors, albeit temporarily, until the river water receded.

However, the figures that impacted the state’s standing on the scale more than anything were those that reflected gambling earnings in August. Without any warning, state licensed casinos showed a 9% drop in earnings compared to August 2010.

In August 2011, the nineteen casinos along the Mississippi River took in $94 million from players. This was down $6.5 million compared to the same period last year. The Gulf Coast casinos didn’t fare much better, with a drop from $101 million to $90.9 million at the eleven casinos in the region.

The Executive Director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission, Allen Godfrey had no explanation for the drop. “I have no insight,” he admitted. “I would hate to speculate.”

Looking at the other states on the scale, Godfrey did speculate that Pennsylvania is probably going to continue to grow. “It is a fairly new market,” he said. “We’ve been a fairly consistent market and there is room to grow.”

Gambling taxes represent around 3% of revenue collections in Mississippi – enough to make lawmakers worried as they sit down to write the state budget.