Aggregated gross gaming revenues in Mississippi reportedly increased by 5% year-on-year last month to hit $184 million thanks in large part to record April takings from the southern state’s twelve gambling venues located along the Gulf of Mexico coast.
According to a Saturday report from the local Sun Herald newspaper citing official figures from the Mississippi Department of Revenue, the one dozen seaside casinos in Harrison County and Hancock County, which include Biloxi’s Palace Casino Resort along with the Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort in nearby D’Iberville, saw their combined April gaming revenues rise by 9% year-on-year to hit $108.6 million.
The newspaper reported that the coastal figure for last month was also 1.3% higher when compared to the previous record of $107.2 million, which was set in April of 2007 as thousands of contractors and volunteers visited the area to aid with cleanup efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and eventually helped to push takings for the year to above $1.3 billion.
The Sun Herald reported that the latest figures mean that Mississippi’s twelve coastal casinos have recorded aggregated gross gaming revenues of $407 million for the first four months of 2018, which is 0.7% up on last year’s figure.
However, the news was reportedly not good state-wide as Mississippi’s northern riverboat casinos, which include the Ameristar Vicksburg as well as the neighboring Riverwalk Casino Hotel, saw their aggregated gross gaming revenues for April fall by 0.9% year-on-year to $74.8 million.
Finally, the Sun Herald reported that Mississippi is moving fast in the wake of last week’s United States Supreme Court ruling that invalidated the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) and released its own proposed sportsbetting regulations on Wednesday. The newspaper predicted that the state’s twelve coastal casinos could now begin accepting sports wagers as soon as mid-July if the suggested rules are speedily approved by the Mississippi Gaming Commission.
