Louisiana’s casino revenue slides 15.8 percent in December from year ago

La. casino revenue down 15.8 percent in December

NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana’s state-licensed casinos continued to slump in December, as winnings from gamblers slid 15.8 percent from December 2008 — a product of the recession and increased competition for wagering dollars.

The 13 riverboats, Harrah’s New Orleans Casino and the four race track casinos took in $192.4 million in December, down from $222.8 million in December 2008, state police reported Tuesday.

Still, the casinos showed a bit of improvement last month from November 2009, boosting revenue by 7.5 percent from $179 million.

Last month, the riverboats won $131.3 million, down from $152.7 million in December 2008. The New Orleans land casino took in a tad under $31 million, down from $34.9 million. The four race track casinos won $30.1 million, a drop from $35.2 million.

There have been mixed signs on whether the national casino downturn is at least tapering off. New Jersey, which has been recording double-digit revenue dips for months, saw December-to-December revenue fall only 9.8 percent, despite traffic-tapering snowstorms. In November, Nevada reported a revenue gain of 4 percent from November 2008 — the first such jump in nearly two years.

For some months after the national financial meltdown, Louisiana casinos defied national trends and started 2009 with an 11 percent revenue gain in January from January 2008. For a number of months, revenue drops were recorded in single digits, but June saw a 10.7 percent fall from the previous June, while August revenue dropped 10 percent.

In October, revenue fell 6.9 percent from October 2008, followed by a November drop of 16.7 percent and December’s fall of 15.8 percent.

Casino analyst Robert LaFleur of Susquehanna Financial Group said part of the drop is probably due to a cooling of Houston’s economy because of lower energy prices — and few gamblers headed to Lake Charles — and increasing numbers of Indian reservation casinos in Oklahoma that compete with Shreveport-Bossier City for Dallas-Fort Worth area gamblers.

The Oklahoma casinos “have gotten more sophisticated with more games and more competitive,” LaFleur said.

The business probably will not experience a major turnaround until the economy sharply improves, he said. “It’s going to take an economic recovery with people more confident about their jobs and the value of their houses before they will have some free money,” LaFleur said.

Among the state’s casino markets:

— Shreveport-Bossier City, with five riverboats and the Louisiana Downs casino, won $58.3 million last month, down 15.6 percent from $69.1 million won in December 2008. Just two years ago — in December 2007 — that market took in $74.7 million.

— The Lake Charles region saw its revenue from three riverboats and the Delta Downs casino fall 8 percent from $60.3 million in December 2008 to $55.5 million last month.

— The New Orleans market, which includes Harrah’s, two riverboats and the Fair Grounds casino won $53.6 million, a 13.8 percent drop from $61 million won in December 2008.

— The two riverboats in Baton Rouge won $14.7 million last month, a 21.5 percent drop from the December 2008 tally of $18.6 million.

— The lone riverboat near Morgan City took in $3.6 million last month — a 33 percent drop from $5.4 million won in December 2008.

— The Evangeline Downs track casino at Opelousas won $7.6 million last month, recording a 10.6 percent drop from $8.5 million won in December 2008.

The figures do not include the three Indian reservation casinos in Louisiana, which are not required to report their revenue to the public.