After a rough April, May was a month in the black for Missouri casinos.
Casinos in Missouri reported nearly $163 million in May revenue, a 4.5% increase from $155.9 million in April. Revenue grew 1.3% from May 2023, when casinos brought in just under $161 million.
The monthly revenue resulted in a $34.2 million tax contribution. It was 4.5% greater than March’s $32.7 million and 1.2% more than May 2023’s $33.8 million.
Admissions grew month over month by 5.6%, reaching nearly 2.4 million, and by 0.3% (7,762 more admissions) year over year.
St. Louis casinos edge their Kansas City counterparts
Casino gambling in the Show Me State is relegated to riverboat options. The Missouri Gaming Commission prohibits land-based casinos, Missouri online casinos and sportsbooks from operating in the state.
However, these boats are permanently docked just inches from land. Patrons won’t feel like they are on a ship.
The majority of Missouri’s 13 riverboat casinos lie near its two largest cities, St. Louis and Kansas City. Each metropolitan area has four casinos, and those eight casinos combined for nearly 85% of the state’s revenue in May.
St. Louis, which has a larger population, had three casinos that reported revenue above $20 million in May:
- Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles: $25.3 million; +3.8%
- River City Casino Hotel: $21.5 million; +1.5%
- Hollywood Casino & Hotel St. Louis: $21.3 million; -3.3%
Three Kansas City-area casinos followed:
- Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City: $17.1 million; +2.1%
- Argosy Casino Hotel & Spa: $14.9 million; +4%
- Harrah’s Kansas City: $13.9 million; -1.6%
That could change in the future, though, as speculation exists that Penn Entertainment could soon be sold. Penn owns River City, Hollywood and Argosy.
Bally’s KC shows the largest annual gains in May
The Missouri Gaming Commission reported two other casinos with eight-figure revenue in May. Horseshoe St. Louis Casino ($12.2 million; -6.2%) had the worst year-over-year loss in the state, followed by Bally’s Kansas City ($11.9 million; +10.6%). Bally’s was the only casino with double-digit year-over-year gains.
Three of the five remaining casinos also reported year-over-year growth, including both Century Casinos properties.
| Casino | Slot Revenue | Table Game Revenue | Total Revenue | Year-Over-Year Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ameristar St. Charles | $20,676,896 | $4,590,200 | $25,267,097 | 3.80% |
| River City | $18,712,318 | $2,695,466 | $21,479,930 | 1.50% |
| Hollywood Casino | $17,871,513 | $3,389,979 | $21,261,492 | -3.30% |
| Ameristar Kansas City | $15,430,499 | $1,689,941 | $17,120,440 | 2.10% |
| Argosy Riverside | $12,459,666 | $2,459,890 | $14,919,556 | 4.00% |
| Harrah's Kansas City | $10,632,939 | $3,282,945 | $13,915,883 | -1.60% |
| Horseshoe St. Louis | $10,929,753 | $1,241,489 | $12,171,242 | -6.20% |
| Bally's Kansas City | $10,349,441 | $1,543,867 | $11,893,308 | 10.60% |
| Isle of Capri Boonville | $6,835,293 | $762,443 | $7,597,736 | -0.80% |
| Century Cape | $5,368,736 | $583,612 | $5,952,348 | 5.00% |
| St. Jo Frontier | $3,940,404 | $195,851 | $4,136,254 | 2.10% |
| Century Caruthersville | $3,852,241 | $266,783 | $4,119,024 | 5.40% |
| Mark Twain | $3,152,975 | $0 | $3,152,975 | -0.70% |
| Totals | $140,212,675 | $22,702,464 | $162,987,285 | 1.00% |
Slots fuel monthly growth
Slot machines generated $140.2 million of Missouri’s monthly casino revenue, up 4.3% month-over-month and 1.2% year-over-year. Only three casinos (Hollywood, Horseshoe St. Louis, and Isle of Capri Boonville) reported lower revenue totals than in May 2023.
Meanwhile, table games proved to be the only blemish on May’s report card. Their $22.7 million in revenue was up 6.3% from April but down 2.2% from May 2023’s $23.2 million.
Four casinos had double-digit year-over-year growth at the tables, including Argosy Riverside (17%) and Bally’s KC (34%). That said, it wasn’t enough to overcome the substantial declines from Ameristar Kansas City (-25%), Horseshoe St. Louis (-22%), and Hollywood Casino (-9%).
Missouri to end FY 2024 in the red
With May’s numbers, Missouri casinos have reported $1.74 billion in revenue through 11 months of Fiscal Year 2024. That number is $28.7 million (-1.6%) off the pace of FY 2023.
May was one of only four months in FY 2024 with year-over-year growth.
- July 2023: $168.5 million (-0.5%)
- August 2023: $156.4 million (-2.9%)
- September 2023: $158.6 million (+0.4%)
- October 2023: $150.5 million (-2.5%)
- November 2023: $147.6 million (-1.5%)
- December 2023: $169.1 million (+7.2%)
- January 2024: $135.4 million (-11.9%)
- February 2024: $157 million (+0.1%)
- March 2024: $175.4 million (-0.8%)
- April 2024: $155.9 million (-6.7%)
- May 2024: $163 million (+1.3%)
Casinos reported $155 million in revenue last June. They would need to push $185 million this month to end FY 2024 with higher revenue than FY 2023.
In reality, all the casinos can hope for is another month of improvement. Their most likely scenario leaves them falling just shy of $1.9 billion in revenue for the fiscal year ending June 30.
