With the onslaught of COVID-19, Mississippi’s casinos were forced to close their doors earlier this year leaving many to worry about the economic recovery of the booming business.

If you compare the revenue numbers to this time last year, the state’s casino industry is faring pretty well, considering the financial hit the industry took due to the pandemic.

According to the Mississippi Gaming Commission, year-to-date, the three gaming regions combined, which include Tunica, Lower River, and Coastal, brought in $901,675, 221 compared to this time last year at $1,295,444,115.  That is a $393,768,894 difference.

Let’s break that down even further:

• Tunica Region:  Year-to-date 2019 =  $341,381,263.  Year-to-date 2020 =   $230,529,380.
• Lower River Region:  Year-to-date 2019 = $180,473,718.  Year-to-date 2020 =  $124,994,589.
• The Coastal Region:  Year-to-date 2019 = $773,589,134.  Year-to-date 2020 =  $546,151,252.

However, if we compare the month of July 2020 to July 2019, revenues are pretty close.  In fact, two regions saw increased revenue:

• In the Tunica Region, July 2019 brought revenues of $42,452,912. July 2020 brought in $52,653,434.  That’s an increase of $10,200,522.
• In the Lower River Region, July 2019 brought in $24,156,758.  $26,580,731 was reported for July 2020 which represents an increase of $2,423,973.
• The Coastal Region saw a slight decline when comparing this July to last.  July 2019 brought in $117,427,012.  July 2020 totaled $115,758,467.  That represents a decrease of $1,668,545.

The numbers, while not surprising, are somewhat encouraging.  All casinos are adhering to strict social distancing guidelines which obviously limits the number of customers at any given time.