Mississippi’s casino revenues took at $406 million hit in 2020

Mississippi’s casino revenues took a big hit in 2020 because of COVID-19.

Casinos were closed for over two months last year, from March 16 to May 21, and operations have been limited since reopening to comply with statewide COVID-19 restrictions.

2020’s year-end gross revenues were down more than $406 million for all casinos, about 18.5% over 2019. No revenue was booked at all for the month of April.

Casinos in Mississippi’s central region, which includes Vicksburg, Natchez and Greenville, saw revenues drop by nearly $60 million, the largest drop by percentage of the state’s three regions. Gross revenues went from $304.2 million down to $244.6 million.

In dollar amounts, both the northern and coastal regions saw bigger drops. The northern district dropped by more than $112 million, while the coast was down by more than $234 million.

Total gross Mississippi’s casino revenues for the industry were over $2.2 billion in 2019 and came in at just under $1.8 billion in 2020. The last time gross revenues were in that range was 25 years ago; revenues were $1.7 billion in 1995.