Missouri Casino Revenue Drops to $155 Million in June

Written By Hill Kerby on July 18, 2024
Revenue dropped in June at Missouri's casinos.

Missouri casinos have had a roller-coaster of ups and downs in recent months. June provided one last drop in Fiscal Year 2024.

June’s monthly casino revenue totaled $154.7 million, roughly $264,000 less (-0.2%) than a year ago ($155 million). Revenue was also 5.1% less than the $163 million reported in May.

With June’s numbers, FY 2024 revenue reached $1.89 billion. This was around $29 million shy of FY 2023’s $1.92 billion, amounting to a 1.5% year-over-year decline.

Admissions also fell, reaching just shy of 2.3 million in June. That was 27,000 fewer than June 2023 (-1%) and 91,000 fewer than May (-3.8%). FY 2024 admissions totaled 28.2 million, a 2.5% drop from the 28.9 million recorded in FY 2023.

Three St. Louis casinos break $20 million in AGR

Missouri state law requires that all gambling operations occur on licensed riverboat casinos with access to the Missouri or Mississippi Rivers. The Missouri Gaming Commission has granted licenses to 13 riverboat casinos, and Missouri online casinos remain prohibited statewide. Sweepstakes and social casinos, which use virtual dollars, are available for online play.

The top three revenue producers in June reported more than $20 million in adjusted gross revenue (AGR). All three came from the St. Louis area and had yearly gains, led by Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles, which maintained its lead in the Show Me State.

A mixed bag of four Kansas City casinos followed, including two with yearly revenue gains and two with declines. Only Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City eclipsed $15 million, though all four had eight-figure monthly AGR totals.

Horseshoe headed in the wrong direction

Each month produces some casinos with year-over-year gains and others with losses. Lately, Horseshoe St. Louis has been consistently in the latter of the two categories.

Horseshoe’s -17.1% year-over-year decline was the worst in the state by a wide margin and contributed to Bally’s Kansas City overtaking it in June revenue. Both casinos have trended in opposite directions lately, with Bally’s leading the state in monthly gains in March and May.

On the other hand, Horseshoe only had four months with year-over-year gains during FY 2024. June marked one of two months with a sub-$11 million AGR and one of three with double-digit percentages in year-over-year declines.

Isle of Capri Booneville was the only other casino with a worse-than-10 % drop in year-over-year AGR. Still, its $6.4 million AGR was the best among the casinos with seven-figure monthly revenue totals.

Missouri gambling expansion coming this fall?

Missouri’s FY 2024 revenue fell just shy of $1.9 billion, a mark it surpassed each of the two prior years. The stagnation (and slight fallback) in casino revenue is unsurprising, considering the state’s 30-year-old gambling industry hasn’t expanded in 12 years.

That could change in multiple ways later this year, though. 

One centers around a referendum seeking to allow a 14th Missouri casino on Lake of the Ozarks, and the second pertains to a referendum legalizing Missouri sports betting.

Both initiatives received more than enough support to gain ballot access. Separate political action committees submitted signatures for each topic, and officials have until July 30 to verify the signatures.

Photo by Shutterstock
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Hill Kerby

Hill Kerby is a proponent of safe, legal betting, and is grateful to be able to contribute to growing the industry. He has a background in poker, sports, and psychology, all of which he incorporates into his writing.

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