Mississippi casino revenue up an ‘impressive’ 5 percent

John Porretto

Thursday, Feb. 22, 2001 | 10:49 a.m.

JACKSON, Miss. -- Mississippi casino revenue rose 5 percent in January, which industry officials say is impressive considering the month had two fewer weekend days than in January 2000.

Mississippi's 30 state-regulated casinos won $227.6 million in January, compared with $216.4 million for the same month a year ago.

The 12 casinos on the Coast had a strong month, reporting revenue of $97.9 million, a 9 percent increase over January 2000.

Beverly Martin, executive director of the Gulf Coast Gaming Association, attributed the gain to a joint marketing effort involving her association, the Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, Gulfport-Biloxi Regional Airport and county and municipal governments.

"That's the only answer I have because there was nothing special going on in January," Martin said. "We stepped up the marketing and we stepped it up early."

In 2000, the gaming association and the CVB spent $300,000 on a joint campaign, but it didn't start until February, Martin said.

"This year, contemplating that January was going to be slow, we became proactive instead of reactive and began the campaign in January."

An extra $300,000 from the airport and local governments also helped, she said. The advertisements targeted potential visitors in Tampa and Houston.

In Tunica and the river counties, casinos won $129.6 million last month, a 2.4 percent gain over January a year ago.

John Osborne, general manager at Hollywood Casino Tunica, said the numbers were deflated somewhat compared to last year because of the two fewer weekend days.

"On a weekend day -- which is a Friday, Saturday or Sunday -- we make twice as much revenue as we do on Monday through Thursday," Osborne said. "That by itself could have made a 5 percent difference in January revenue."

Osborne said he doesn't foresee much growth in revenue this month.

"I think it will be comparable to last year," he said. "The general economy has caused some people a little concern and they're looking at their spending habits."