Mississippi casinos thrive on sports betting
Mississippi casinos had their best December since 1992 after sports betting was legalised across the Gulf Coast.
US.- Sports betting is still taking its first steps after PASPA was revoked by the Supreme Court, but in those states where it has already been legalised the results came in immediately. For Mississippi Coast casinos, the segment meant a push that gave Gulf Coast venues their best December since 1992.
During the last month of 2018, Mississippi Coast’s 12 casinos had a combined US$106.4 million in gross casino revenue (GCR), which meant a 7.5% increase year-on-year. The figure isn’t only the highest in 26 years, but also just the second time that December GCR topped the US$100 million mark after 2007’s US$103 million.
Besides the record December, 2018 was the best year for the Gulf Coast since 2008, when GCR reached US$1.26 billion. Last year – according to preliminary figures – total GCR was 4% higher than 2017 and reached US$1.24 billion, the third highest year since the Katrina hurricane hit the area in 2004, behind 2008 and 2007’s US$1.30 billion.
“It’s certainly more than we ever anticipated,” vice president of marketing and resort operations at Golden Nugget Casino Biloxi, Scott King, said on sports betting, the main cause of the industry’s success.
