Missouri’s casinos had some struggles in the fiscal year just ended although the industry did generate a little more revenue than the previous fiscal year. Nine of Missouri’s 12 casinos had less income last year than the year before.
The nine casinos did not LOSE money—their income was just down.
Statewide, casino income was up two percent for the fiscal year that ended June 30th–about 36 million dollars, thanks to a ten percent increase at the Argosy casino in Kansas City, and 86-million dollars taken in by the new Lumiere Place casino in St. Louis in seven months.
Lumiere Place’s take helped offset shutdowns of two casinos for most of June because of floods, and the effects of a sagging economy.
The head of the state gaming commission, Gene McNary jsays there’s another factor—with business slowing, slot machines are not as loose as they have been. State law requires slots to have an 80 percent payout. McNary says competition has forced them to pay out 90-95%. But he says the casinos have adjusted the payout to pay a little less to cover their costs and keep their revenues steady.
McNary says shrinking disposable income because of high gas and fuel prices hasn’t been felt by casinos as much as it has by other businesses—because casinos have an older clientele that carefully budgets for entertainment and maintains that budget.
Regardless of all the industries ups and downs in the recent fiscal year, Missouri’s casinos took in more than 1.6-billion dollars. .