New, expanded resorts could boost Mississippi revenue

Friday, Nov. 17, 2000 | 3:39 a.m.

The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians has started construction on a $750 million entertainment complex dubbed the Pearl River Resort, which will join the tribe's existing Silver Star Casino in Neshoba County.

Ground was broken Thursday for the Golden Moon Casino and Hotel, which will anchor the new resort.

Tribal Chief Phillip Martin had said when plans were first announced in February that the greatest impact of the expansion would be on the local market as a result of increased demand for goods and services.

At the time, Martin announced the Golden Moon would feature 90,000 square feet of gambling space, a 600-room hotel and an 80-foot-diameter golden globe restaurant perched atop the building.

Subsequent plans include entertainment shows and attractions and a recreational lake.

The tribe already boasts one hotel and casino, the Dancing Rabbit Golf Club, a restaurant, spa and 30,000 square feet of meeting and convention space at its complex near Philadelphia.

Tribal officials hope to have many of the resort features open to the public by mid-2002.

Across the state in Tunica County, the Isle of Capri Casino will open its $14 million entertainment center on Friday. The casino also is opening an eight-story, 227-room hotel.

Isle of Capri officials are hoping to cash in on the local market as well as the bus and travel market with the new Paradise Entertainment Center. The facility features two stages - the 1,280-seat Flamingo Bay Theater and the 500-seat Caribbean Cove Showroom.

The entertainment center will provide Las Vegas and Branson, Mo., style entertainment, according to General Manager Mark Fulton.

"The important aspect to keep in mind with both projects is the continued emphasis in the industry to expand the entertainment, retail and restaurant side of the business," said Andy Bourland, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Association.

These additions to the state's gaming market expand, beyond gambling, the value that casinos have to customers, Bourland said.

The new casino and the new amenities in both Tunica and on the Choctaw reservation will likely increase casino revenue, according to gaming analyst Tom Graves with S&P Equity Group in New York.

Since August, state-regulated casinos have seen their revenue growth slow from the previous year.

In September, the most recently reported month, casinos on the Gulf Coast saw a major drop in revenue, from a gain of $31.1 million from 1998 to 1999 to a gain of $300,000 from 1999 to 2000.

For the Mississippi River counties that include Tunica and Warren counties, the gain in 1999 over 1998 was $9.9 million. This year, the casinos gained $9.4 million over 1999 numbers.