Mississippi still the only state in Southeast with sports betting. It’s paying off.
Even though the Saints weren’t in the Super Bowl, the big game was a boost for the Mississippi Coast.
And the first day of March Madness will add more green as it kicks off on St. Patrick’s Day.
About $6.7 million was wagered on the Super Bowl at Mississippi casinos, according to Allen Godfrey, executive director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. That’s up from about $5 million last year.
Super Bowl Sunday marked 18 months since the first sports bets were placed at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, and legal wagering has created a sizable boost to the casinos and state tax revenue.
“Right now, we are the only state in the Southeast region where you can place a legal sports bet,” said Duncan McKenzie, general manager at IP Casino Biloxi. That, along with a strong economy, is drawing customers, he said, and they are coming from a good distance to bet. This has boosted hotel room occupancy and food and beverage sales, he said, and some crossover to slots and table games.
“I’ve never really seen anything like it,” said Brad Bryant, sportsbook manager at Island View Casino in Gulfport. He’s worked at casinos and race track in Las Vegas and New Orleans for 25 years, and says he’s amazed at the number of new people coming in.
He expects another big boost coming from sports betting in March.
“March Madness now actually rivals the Super Bowl,” he said.
Record revenue for Mississippi
“We’re thrilled with the results of sports betting so far,” said Scott King, vice president of marketing and resort operations at Golden Nugget Casino Biloxi. It’s brought a new customer that wasn’t necessarily already at the casino, he said.
Last year’s casino revenue at the 12 Coast casinos reached a record $1.31 billion. That’s up $83 million from 2018 and it even surpassed 2007, when volunteers and construction workers flooded into South Mississippi and the casinos following Hurricane Katrina.
Biloxi’s eight casinos reported $903 million in gross gaming revenue, a $50 million increase over 2018.
That brings more local and state tax money. In the last fiscal year, Biloxi casinos contributed $20 million in taxes to the city and $108 million in total municipal taxes to the state, counties, cities, the local school districts, police and fire departments, an increase of more than $5 million.
The payroll at Coast casinos in November also was up $5 million over November 2017, before sports betting , according to Gaming Commission reports.
Mobile betting by phone possible?
The state Legislature approved sports betting inside casinos, but didn’t go so far as to legalize mobile sports betting from anywhere in Mississippi using a smartphone or tablet.
Geoff Freeman, former CEO of the American Gaming Association, warned that Mississippi was leaving a lot of money on the table by not approving mobile betting.
“Yes, the mobile sports betting app would be a welcome addition,” said Monica Scott, vice president of marketing at Boomtown and Hollywood Gulf Coast casinos, “allowing bettors more in-game options, the ability to make their decisions and place bets faster as well as the ability to choose the level of interaction they prefer when placing a bet — ticket writer, kiosk or app.”
In New Jersey, 87% of wagers are mobile, and in Pennsylvania it’s 84%, the AGA said in a recent press release. Media reports say New York residents are walking halfway across the bridge into New Jersey, driving or taking the train to place bets.
“It’s a huge number,” Godfrey said. “But there’s also a big difference between us, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Indiana in population.”
Mobile betting inside a casino is allowed in Mississippi, but none of the properties have done it yet, Godfrey said. “It’s very costly to do,” he said, especially when people already are on the premises.
Bills were introduced in the Mississippi Legislature last year to add mobile betting, and Rep. Casey Eure, R-Biloxi, chairman of the House Gaming Committee, said he expects a couple of bills will make it into his committee this year.
Rep. Cedric Burnett, a Democrat who represents the Tunica area, authored the first one. HB 172 proposes authorizing mobile sports betting, and it was referred to the Gaming Committee.
“As of right now, it’s definitely something Mississippi needs to look at in the future,” Eure said of mobile betting. “I want to study it and get it right.”
This is not an election year, when it’s difficult to get this type of legislation passed, but there are 25 freshmen legislators to educate on the issue.
Sen. Philip Moran, R-Kiln, who was appointed vice-chairman of the new Senate Gaming Committee, said they are looking at a state app for sports betting.
It will take time, he said, as it did to get the “world class-run lottery” that recently launched in Mississippi.
“The only thing worse than no bill is a bad bill,” he said.
Sportsbooks prepare for March Madness
The bigger Super Bowl bets at Harrah’s were on Kansas City, said Jonathan Jones, general manager. “Our customers were pulling for the Chiefs and they had a good day yesterday,” he said on Monday.
Last year, Harrah’s was in phase I of sports betting. “Now we’ve got the 406 Club,” he said, and the new sportsbook and bar was completely sold out for the Super Bowl.
Now they’re getting ready for March Madness, and he said, “It’s going to be a fun month.”
Sports betting has added excitement to the casino floor, said Russell Schenck, director of table games and sportsbook operations at Hard Rock Casino Biloxi.
During the College Football Playoff National Championship game between LSU and Clemson, so many fans watched at Hard Rock, “You could hardly hear on the floor,” he said. That’s because the sportsbook is open to the casino floor, which he said gives it an electric, centric feeling.
Godfrey said he thinks sports betting has surpassed the expectations of casino operators.
“Obviously revenues are up,” he said. “The biggest sign is if people are reinvesting in their properties. They’re doing that,” he said.
What’s new at the Coast casinos?
Casino companies are spending millions of dollars to upgrade sports betting and other amenities. Here’s the rundown by casino:
▪ Beau Rivage has invested big in sports betting, creating three new venues: TAP Book, Bar & Bistreaux, which is off the casino floor, and Topgolf and Black Clover along the retail promenade. Topgolf is a simulator lounge that lets people play golf with the same type of simulators used by Tiger Woods and other pros, or games like Zombie Dodgeball and Quarterback Challenge. It accommodates groups and even children’s parties. “It turns to adults only at 6 o’clock at night,” said spokeswoman Mary Cracchiolo Spain.
▪ Boomtown and Hollywood Gulf Coast. In October, Boomtown Casino debuted its new Stadium Bar & Grill, directly across from the sportsbook. More televisions were added at the lobby bar across from the sportsbook at Hollywood. And at both properties, “We will soon be converting from William Hill to an in-house service that will incorporate more kiosks and allow us to rate players at all sports betting points of sale,” Scott said. Additional kiosks will be available during March Madness along with 24-hour betting. Parent company Penn National recently purchased a share of Barstool Sports, a digital sports media company, to enhance the customer experience.
▪ Golden Nugget was the first casino on the Coast to have betting kiosks and now has triple the number, said King. The biggest surprise was that information they got from Nevada didn’t really apply to the Mississippi Gulf Coast, he said, especially concerning college football. In other states, Golden Nugget already excels in mobile betting, he said, leading the Atlantic City market.
▪ Hard Rock. ”We’ve added kiosks since we originally opened,” said Schenck, expanded from three to five windows and added in-play betting. For the Super Bowl, they turned Hard Rock Live into a sports lounge with a 50-foot screen, couches, food and a temporary book so people didn’t have to leave the room. They plan to do the same thing on opening weekend of March Madness. For those unfamiliar with sports betting, they have pamphlets and liaisons to help customers understand the terminology and the process. “One of our main goals is to educate those who come in so they feel comfortable making wagers,” he said.
▪ Harrah’s Gulf Coast Casino opened the 406 Club last summer to recall the history of sports betting in Biloxi and to provide high-tech facilities for today’s fans. It’s brought energy, excitement and a younger crowd, which Jones said “influences how we think about the rest of our offering.” The company’s learned the nuances since sports betting was legalized. “For us at Caesars, we probably underestimated the effects of the kiosk,” which he said aren’t that big in Nevada. “We’re definitely doing more than half of our tickets through the kiosks,” he said, while not impacting the amount of bets they do at the windows.
▪ IP Casino. Studio B was set up for 500 customers to watch the Super Bowl with stadium food and drawings, McKenzie said, and they are starting to plan for March Madness. The sportsbook will transition to FanDuel in March, and he said, “We’re looking forward to having an even better product in there.” They’ve added 10 or 11 kiosks, and he said the ones in the sportsbook have the most action. Like other casino operators, he’s watching for developments in Jackson. “I think, certainly, we need to evolve into a mobile state,” he said.
▪ Island View Casino has sportsbooks north and south of U.S. 90 in Gulfport. Bryant said they expanded the counter space on the north side and are adding more kiosks on both sides. The north windows are busier, he said, so he tells people who are in a hurry to use the south casino. A Super Bowl watch party was open in the View Showroom, and Bryant, who has hosted similar events on the Vegas Strip, said they’ll be having a March Madness party as well.
▪ Palace Casino. “It’s what I expected,” general manager Keith Crosby said of the effects of sport betting, which he said has created jobs and taxes. Seating at their sports bar was increased and they added kiosks for self service. They were able to measure the time it takes to bet with kiosks and at the window and he said, “We actually processed more with tellers.” The Palace was the first Coast casino to take bets on horse racing. Next up, he said, is the expansion and total remodeling of Mignon’s Steaks & Seafood.
▪ Scarlet Pearl Casino offered 22 prop bets for the Super Bowl and was saved a bigger payout because a safety and 2 point conversion didn’t happen, Carpenter said. They’ve added 13 self-service kiosks since last year and he said, “It increased our ticket count quite a bit and our handle as well.” They’ve also added parimutuel betting on horses. Carpenter said he didn’t anticipate how much people in Mississippi love to bet parlays. “We paid out some good ones,” he said.
▪ Silver Slipper Casino’s sportsbook is seeing crowds, especially on the weekends. ”At 8 o’clock in the morning there are 100 people in line on Saturday and Sunday,” said John Ferrucci, general manager. They added another kiosk in time for the Super Bowl and a third terminal that opens in busy times. The challenge is finding good employees who know about sports betting. “It’s complicated,” he said. “Mobile would always help,” he said, because customers wouldn’t have to wait in line and can bet just inside the state line. Improvements are ongoing, with new carpeting, wall covering and lighting in the casino, and a hotel expansion in the permitting process.
▪ Treasure Bay Casino self-service kiosks are coming soon, said Susan Varnes, general manager. Treasure Bay is in the midst of a phased renovation of all hotel rooms and other public areas, she said, and the first furniture should be arriving in April. “We decided it was important that we renovate the existing facilities prior to beginning the expansion,” she said. As part of a phased expansion, a new parking lot is complete and a parking garage and expanded casino are still to come.
This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
