Mississippi experiences casino revenue fall

The state experienced a big fall in casino revenues during February.

US.- According to data released by the state Revenue Department, Mississippi went through a 10 percent decline in casino revenues compared to the numbers reported during the same period a year before.

Whilst gamblers lost US$190 million in February 2016, this year players gambled and gave away US$172 million. The state 12 coastal casinos reported revenue of US$95 million, a 9 percent decrease from the US$105 million encountered in 2016. February 2017 marks the second highest monthly revenue fall in four years in Mississippi, a state that has been getting food results lately.

The 16 River casinos also reported US$77 million, almost US$10 million less than the same month last year, and it also represented the second straight decline in the region in seven years. The numbers released by the local revenue department don’t include Choctaw Indian casinos because they don’t report winnings to them.

Last week two proposed casino sites were rejected by state regulators: the three members of the Mississippi Gaming Commission discussed the proposal for less than two hours before communicating the decision to reject the sites. Jacobs Entertainment Diamondhead and RW Development had presented the proposals in February for the second time: back in 2008 the project was rejected because they didn’t have control on the lands to the water’s edge, but Michael Cavanaugh, an attorney from RW Development, believed that the high water line and the shoreline are not the same.