JOHN E. SETTLE JR.
Editor
Revenues of Louisiana casinos, video gaming and racino numbers have been on an up-and-down roller coaster all year.
The best month of the year was April with total revenues exceeding $320 million.
In August the combined revenues of all casinos, video gaming and racino numbers were $214.8 million as compared to $296.9 million in July. August had one less day than July and Hurricane Ida was a major disruption in south Louisiana for gaming venues.
Locally, the five casinos experienced a drop in August revenues totaling $13.28 million from July, or a negative 24.6% collectively.
Boomtown experienced a drop of 13.5% in August from July, with total revenues of $3.98 million.
Eldorado Resort had a July to August decline of 35.3%, with total revenues of $7.32 million. August was the first smoke-free month for this casino.
Horseshoe had the smallest monthly drop of 14.5%, with gaming revenues of $12.68 million.
Sam’s Town had the largest monthly decline of the local casinos at 39.5% with gaming revenues of $3.36 million. August was also the first smoke-free month for Sam’s Town.
Margaritaville had a 24.3% July to August drop with gaming revenues of $13.42 million.
Harrah’s Louisiana Downs’ $3.64 million August revenue was a decline of 29.4%.
Video gaming revenues are not broken down by cities. Overall, these were 20.8% less in August than July for the state.
The impact of the Aug. 1 no-smoking ban at Eldorado Resort and Sam’s Town most likely is part of the decline in those revenues in August versus July. More data will be needed to determine the long-term impact of the ban on these two casinos.