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After a high note in March, Mississippi casino revenue swung into a minor chord in April.
The state’s 25 casinos posted $192 million in revenue this past month, down more than $40 million compared to March and around $27 million compared to April 2023, according to the latest data from the Mississippi Gaming Commission (MGC).
The MGC’s data only includes action at brick-and-mortar casinos. Online casinos are not legal in Mississippi yet.
Key takeaways
- Casino revenue took a considerable dive month-on-month and year-on-year.
- Online casinos are likely a long way off in Mississippi.
- April’s 18.3% revenue dip was the biggest in the past 12 months.
iGaming likely won’t come to Mississippi for a few years
Like most states with land-based casino gaming, online casinos are illegal in Mississippi. Though online casinos can bring in tens of millions of dollars in revenue, states tend to avoid them over concerns of revenue loss at land-based casinos and an increase in problem gambling rates.
That being said, one sign that online casinos are more likely to be legalized in a state is that the state legalizes sports betting. All seven states with legal online casinos also have sports betting: Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia.
Mississippi has legal in-person sports betting and mobile sports betting on casino properties which would typically pave the way to statewide online sports betting and casinos. However, that isn’t the case.
A recent attempt by lawmakers to legalize statewide online sports betting passed the Mississippi House with overwhelming support. Eventually, it failed as lawmakers clashed over issues including in-person registration and the daily fantasy sports minimum age.
April casino revenue can’t match monthly and yearly numbers
Mississippi casinos generated $192 million in revenue in April, an 18.3% drop-off from March. The state’s Northern region declined the hardest — casinos saw their monthly revenue drop 22.5%. The Central and Coastal regions fell 19.3% and 16.6%, respectively.
| Month | Central Region | Coastal Region | Northern Region | Total | Month-on-Month Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2024 | $26,164,435.34 | $124,186,660.28 | $41,668,811.57 | $192,019,907.19 | -18.3% |
| March 2024 | $32,431,906.56 | $148,961,409.22 | $53,748,956.84 | $235,142,272.62 | 13.8% |
| February 2024 | $27,903,770.73 | $131,454,852.35 | $47,318,074.81 | $206,676,697.89 | 14.6% |
| January 2024 | $23,039,308.50 | $120,876,868.66 | $36,360,257.12 | $180,276,434.28 | -18.0% |
| December 2023 | $29,992,289.77 | $139,043,632.90 | $50,798,684.28 | $219,834,606.95 | 14.8% |
| November 2023 | $24,379,325.26 | $122,261,516.48 | $44,922,664.80 | $191,563,506.54 | 0.3% |
| October 2023 | $24,473,122.15 | $122,565,538.38 | $44,027,006.32 | $191,065,666.85 | -9.0% |
| September 2023 | $27,443,096.80 | $135,392,235.14 | $47,153,784.43 | $209,989,116.37 | 5.7% |
| August 2023 | $25,069,515.30 | $128,565,902.48 | $45,108,528.07 | $198,743,945.85 | -9.1% |
| July 2023 | $27,027,992.15 | $143,196,496.77 | $48,375,085.32 | $218,599,574.24 | 10.3% |
| June 2023 | $26,560,323.47 | $127,341,857.77 | $44,286,194.83 | $198,188,376.07 | -5.7% |
| May 2023 | $27,168,292.70 | $135,395,413.06 | $47,677,447.47 | $210,241,153.23 | 0.4% |
| April 2023 | $28,672,846.22 | $131,244,684.17 | $49,488,868.00 | $209,406,398.39 | -7.7% |
| Total | $350,326,224.95 | $1,710,487,067.66 | $600,934,363.86 | $2,661,747,656.47 |
April’s 18.3% month-on-month decline was the biggest drop since April 2023, a dip that likely has to do more with Mississippi’s casinos posting March revenue numbers that were the highest in two years.
That being said, April’s numbers were a bit concerning because they were low compared to not only March but the past three Aprils:
- April 2024: $192 million
- April 2023: $209.4 million
- April 2022: $206.1 million
- April 2021: $261.3 million
Pre-COVID, April casino revenue hovered in the low $180 million range for a few years. What we’re seeing play out in Mississippi might be a case of revenue numbers leveling off after a post-COVID boom.
