Casino Marketing Campaigns Outdoing Oil Spill Damages

According to Mississippi it’s still too early to tell if the oil spill in the Gulf is affecting casino operations in the state, even though the Department of Revenue reported that June’s gambling winnings were down $14 million from May.

“We would expect in July if we’re not within 5 to 7 percent of where we were last July that you could attribute that to the oil spill,” Scott King, director of research and policy for the Gulf Coast Business Council said.

The state’s 19 casinos along the Mississippi River won a combined total of $102.3 million during the month of June compared to $107.8 million in May.

The 11 casinos along the coast were down to $87.2 million in winnings last month compared to $95.2 million in May, however in year over year results winnings were up by 3%.

However the states casinos have seen increasing costs in marketing efforts to keep bringing tourist to the casinos. Beverly Martin, executive director of the Mississippi Casino Operators Association says that despite the losses “The marketing efforts of the casinos seem to be working.”