Revenue drops at all local casinos, except the beleaguered President
January was a tough month for St. Louis-area casinos, as the recession and cold weather teamed up to tamp down business.
Gambling revenue at the region’s six casinos fell by 4 percent in the month compared to last year, according to figures out Wednesday from Missouri and Illinois regulators. Every casino saw business fall. Every casino except one, that is.
The President Casino — which the Missouri Gaming Commission moved to shut down in late January for "inadequate declining performance" — was the only casino in Missouri to post an increase in revenue for the year. Its business grew 3 percent, to $1.99 million, though it still earns just one-third of the revenue it did in January 2007.
The President’s owner, Pinnacle Entertainment, is still mulling its options after the Missouri Gaming Commission moved to close the riverboat in July. But a bill to prohibit regulators from closing a casino simply for declining revenue is moving through the Missouri Senate payday loan lenders.
The measure, proposed by Sen. Robin Wright-Jones, D-St. Louis, was voted out of the Ways and Means Committee on Monday and will move to the full Senate for a hearing. A similar version in the House has the support of Speaker Ron Richard.
Elsewhere, revenue dropped at all other area casinos, as gamblers stayed home even more than they normally do in the typically slow month of January.
Lumière Place suffered its first year-over-year decline since opening in late 2007. Revenue was off 6.7 percent at Ameristar St. Charles, the region’s biggest casino, and revenue slumped at Harrah’s in Maryland Heights, the Casino Queen and Argosy Alton Casino.
Overall, the 4 percent drop was the steepest year-over-year decline for St. Louis-area gambling in more than a year.
Filed under: term by Finance Boss