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Louisana’s land-based casinos, riverboat casinos, and racinos combined for $180.8 million in July, which was down around 8.4% from June. Though overall revenue was down, some properties in the Bayou State posted excellent numbers.
Key takeaways
- Legal online casinos could’ve brought Louisiana over $55 million in June.
- Louisiana casinos brought home $180.8 million in revenue in July.
- Two riverboat casinos, one racino and Harrah’s New Orleans saw revenue grow month-on-month.
Lousiana legislators are leaving online casino revenue on the table
Online casinos have been a tough sell in every region of the country over the past few years, as land-based casinos lobby hard against them (in most cases) over fears of iGaming cannibalizing revenue. Those fears have turned the South into a graveyard for online casino legalization attempts.
If legislators ever come around to the idea of iGaming, Louisiana operators stand to earn tens of millions of dollars. PlayUSA estimates Louisiana online casinos could’ve earned $55.2 million in June:
| State | June online casino revenue | Population | Per-capita revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $216.5 million | 13 million | $16.65 |
| Michigan | $198.6 million | 10 million | $19.86 |
| New Jersey | $192.1 million | 9.3 million | $20.65 |
| Connecticut | $46.3 million | 3.6 million | $12.86 |
| West Virginia | $17.9 million | 1.8 million | $9.94 |
| Delaware | $3.9 million | 1 million | $3.90 |
| Rhode Island | $2.3 million | 1.1 million | $2.09 |
| Average | $79.8 million | 6.5 million | $12.27 |
| Louisiana (projected) | $55,215,000 | 4.5 million | $12.27 |
Multiple LA casinos see double-digit growth in July
Louisana’s overall casino revenue in July was pretty tepid, but a deeper dive into data from the Louisana Gaming Control Board reveals several casinos had standout months:
- Evangeline Downs (racino) +55.4%
- Horseshoe Bossier City (riverboat) +30.1%
- Harrah’s New Orleans +16.4%
Horseshoe Lake Charles was the only other casino to post positive growth in July, inching up to $7.8 million from $7.6 million posted in LA’s June 2024 casino revenue.
Riverboat casinos and land-based casinos experienced revenue losses month-on-month. Racinos were down 11.7%, while riverboat casinos dipped 10.3%.
What’s ahead for Louisiana casinos?
If 2023 trends hold up, we should see revenue drop again slightly next month. In 2023, riverboat revenue went up around $1 million between riverboat and land-based casinos from July to August, but racino revenue dropped around $2.5 million over that same period.
Using that trend as a guide, it’s possible we could see total revenue dip around $1.5 million in August.
