Rural Northern Mississippi transformed by gambling

Woody Baird

Wednesday, April 3, 2002 | 10:11 a.m.

TUNICA, Miss. -- Ten years ago, if outsiders even gave it a thought at all, they knew this rural stretch of Northern Mississippi only for the blues and its reputation as one of the nation's most chronically depressed places.

But that all changed in 1992, when Tunica was transformed by casino gambling into a bustling entertainment hotspot, with 10 riverboat casinos, flashy hotels, restaurants and concert halls.

In fact, it was the lure of tiny Tunica that helped bring the heavyweight championship fight between Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson to Memphis' Pyramid arena, 30 miles to the north.

"The fight wouldn't be happening if it weren't for The Pyramid and the great venue in Memphis. But I don't think it would be happening if it weren't for the great gaming product we have in Tunica either," Webster Franklin, director of Tunica's tourist bureau, said.

Fight promoters originally wanted the match in Las Vegas but Nevada refused Tyson a boxing license because of his history of violence both in and out of the ring.

The promoters met with casino managers in Tunica before picking Memphis for the June 8 fight. Since many of those casinos are owned by companies also doing business in Las Vegas, the talks went well, Franklin said.

The parent companies, he said, "are familiar with holding events of this stature."

When casinos first started moving into Tunica, Memphis was worried. City leaders envisioned millions of dollars from tourists and residents flowing to Tunica and away from Memphis.

But Denise Taylor of the Memphis Convention and Visitor's Bureau said Tunica has helped the city draw tourists, since many of Tunica's visitors also come to Memphis.

"It's one more attraction we can offer people, especially for international visitors who tend to tour by an entire region rather than a single location," she said.

Mississippi approved casino gaming in 1990, but took a different approach than most other states.

Some states limit the number of casinos they will accept as well as the amounts of money gamblers can bet. Some require riverboats to cast off from shore before gaming can begin.

Mississippi allows 24-hour-a-day gambling on docked boats with no bet limits. There is no limit on the number of casinos the state will permit. The market decides that.

Tunica's first casino, Splash, opened in October 1992. It was a modest affair built on a barge that once held a floating restaurant.

It offered slot machines, table games and all the other standard casino attractions and was an instant hit.

Splash chose Tunica County because it is the closest town to Memphis that allows casino gambling. Memphis is the largest city on the Mississippi River between New Orleans and St. Louis, and Tennessee does not allow gambling.

Tunica got its second casino, Lady Luck, in 1993. As more casinos arrived, they began adding hotels, concert halls and shops.

The casinos are called riverboats, but they're boats in name only. While the gambling halls sit in slips cut into the banks of the Mississippi River, their attached hotels and other support businesses are on land.

When Splash opened its doors, Tunica County had an annual budget of $3.5 million, barely enough to keep the roads passable, the sewers working and the schools open.

"We had a planning commission but it never met. There was nothing to plan for," Franklin said.

Now, because of casino taxes, the county's annual budget is $80 million. So far, it has collected more than $255 million from the casinos.

"Tunica County is debt free," Franklin said, "and projects are paid for with cash."

At first Tunica spent most of its casino money on roads, sewers and other improvements that would help attract more riverboats. Property taxes were eliminated.

The county also built two new schools and a small medical center. The jail was remodeled, and "things that were broken were fixed," Franklin said.

Tunica is now building a 168-acre riverfront park and putting in a 7,000-foot runway at its small airport.

The casinos have created more than 15,000 jobs, and Tunica County has a total population of just 9,200.

Most of the casino workers come from Memphis and surrounding communities in Mississippi and Arkansas. Last year the casinos paid out more than $90 million in salaries.

Before the casinos, farm work provided modest incomes for most of Tunica's residents and the unemployment rate was 26 percent.

By latest count, unemployment is 5 percent, and per capita income has increased from $11,875 to $20,203.

The number of Tunica residents on welfare has dropped 90 percent, and food stamp distributions have dropped 70 percent.

In recent years, the casinos have expanded their advertising outside the Memphis region.

The casinos estimate that 29 percent of their gamblers last year were from Tennessee, while 18 percent were from Arkansas and 13 percent from Mississippi. The other 40 percent came from a variety of states, mostly in the South and Midwest.

Overall, the regional economy has improved since the casinos arrived, said Jeff Wallace, a University of Memphis economist.

"Many of the initial fears people had on the negative impact on the community simply haven't happened," Wallace said.

Eighteen of Mississippi's 30 casinos are along the Mississippi River, with the rest on the Gulf Coast.

The riverboats in the "North River Region," which includes Tunica's casinos plus another at the town of Lula, had gross revenues last year of more than $353 million.

The state does not report on finances from individual casinos.

But while the casinos have brought money and jobs, they undoubtedly have had hidden costs as well, said Andy Meyers, a University of Memphis psychologist.

Meyers runs a clinic in Memphis for victims of compulsive gambling. Since opening in 1999, largely because of the casinos in Tunica, the clinic has treated more than 120 patients.

No records are available on how many bankruptcies, divorces and other problems can be directly linked to gambling, but national studies give an idea on their social costs, Meyers said.

Most people who patronize casinos gamble for entertainment, but up to 5 percent are at risk of becoming compulsive gamblers. And it is clear, Meyers said, that more people give gambling a try as casinos become more accessible.

The casinos advertise heavily with print and TV ads showing happy gamblers having a big time at the tables and slots, but Meyers said they don't tell the whole story.

"They're not showing you the guy in the parking lot crying," Meyers said.