Casinos inward Mississippi River are on runway to occupy in to a greater extent money this twelvemonth than in pre-pandemic 2019, according to a published report.
From January to May this year, porcine gaming revenue in Mississippi River totaled $1.1 billion, according to the Mississippi Today website. In 2019, the state’s casinos won $2.2 one thousand million for the full year.
In 2020, with casinos locked pull down for virtually deuce months under COVID-19 restrictions, the receipts revenue for the twelvemonth totaled $1.8 billion.
This year’s numbers place the state’s gaming halls on rate to mark a revenue track record geological dating back up to the 1990s, when casinos were legalized in the state, the website reported.
Mississippi is home to 26 commercial casinos. Twelve are along the Gulf Coast, with viii of those inward the Biloxi area.
Keith Crosby, full general manager of the Palace Casino inward Biloxi, told Mississippi Today unity intellect for the large numbers this twelvemonth is that a lot of businesses get closed. That creates “less rivalry for people’s discretionary dollars.”
“On the flip out face of that effect, the gambling casino industry got before of it with some substantial safety measures in put to sell with COVID,” he said.
‘Back to Normal Life’
Another understanding for the higher gaming win tot up this year is that to a greater extent tourists are showing up. Across the country, the national rollout of vaccines and stimulus checks has unleashed a repressed exact for travel.
Karen Conner, manager of marketing for the tourism federal agency Coastal Mississippi, said the figure of tourists is higher than it has been in years.
This important increase in visitation serves as an of import bench mark for the procession of our recovery as a destination,” she told Mississippi Today.
With athletic events back on a fixture schedule, sports betting also is reviving involvement inward casinos, said res publica Rep. Casey Eure (R). The Biloxi legislator chairs the House Gaming Committee.
“People have been happy to acquire dorsum to normal life,” he said.
Sports betting is expected to generate regular to a greater extent stake with the NFL harden kicking cancelled soon. NFL games in general are the most widely play sporting events inward the country. This year, the regular flavour begins in September and ends with the Super Bowl on Feb. 13, 2022, inwards Inglewood, Calif.
In Mississippi, sports betting is qualified to on-site wagering inner casinos. Bettors cannot de jure exercise smartphones or computers in putting money knock down on a live sporting event.
However, peregrine sports betting is sound inward Volunteer State and Louisiana, II states that edge Mississippi. Mobile River sports betting has been operational inward Tennessee since November. It is legal, but not in time up and running in Louisiana.
Help Wanted
The step-up inwards tourism and cassino gaming has left hand some Mississippi resorts short-staffed.
As of utmost week, the Beau Rivage had nearly 100 undetermined positions available, according to Mississippi Today. In May, the Beau Rivage conducted a job just that resulted inwards 120 slots beingness filled. About 300 people showed upward for interviews.
In an travail to appeal workers, some Mississippi casinos experience raised wages.
A similar gambling casino job shortage is occurring inward Arkansas, where single cassino latterly hired chore candidates on the spot, and another raised reward and paid for unexampled table-game employees to see dealer school.