The casinos in Missouri had a slight financial uptick in December and closed out 2022 still on pace to break the record for revenue in a fiscal year.
The 13 casinos in the Show Me State combined for $157,680,102 in December, a 5.2% increase in a month-over-month comparison to the Missouri November casino revenue report, which came to about $149.86 million.
December’s total was a 3.5% decrease from December 2021, when the state had $163.3 million in casino revenue.
The state benefitted from about $950 million in revenue from July to December, marking the first half of the current fiscal year. That's almost a million more than the first half of the 2021-22 fiscal year. For the 12-month period ending in June 2022, Missouri casinos broke a record with just over $1.9 billion in revenue.
There’s reason to think that the total could exceed $2 billion in the 2022-23 fiscal year if history is any indication. Spring tends to see major increases in casino revenue, with March and April being particularly active months.
Of the December revenue in the state, about $29.8 million was earmarked for education.
Missouri Casino Revenue By Market
The four casinos in the St. Louis market, as usual, took in about half of the statewide revenue. Ameristar Casino in St. Charles topped the Missouri casino revenue list at nearly $25.3 million for the month. River City and Hollywood casinos also topped $20 million.
Ameristar Kansas City led that metro area’s revenue list in December at $16.6 million, followed closely by Harrah’s Kansas City ($14.76 million) and Argosy ($13.2 million).
Isle of Capri Casino in Boonville led the five “out-state” casinos (facilities outside of St. Louis and Kansas City) at $7.4 million last month.
Hopes for Sports Betting
An attempt to bring legal, regulated sports betting in Missouri to fruition last year failed in the legislature.
In the meantime, neighboring Kansas launched its mobile and retail sports betting market in time for the 2022 football season. So Missouri residents in and near Kansas City had easy access to sportsbooks, just as folks in St. Louis can dash over the Illinois border to place bets. And those living in other parts of the Show Me State can also go to Iowa, Arkansas or Tennessee to scratch their sports betting itch.
So it’s little wonder that there’s urgency among some Missouri lawmakers to stop the flow of tax dollars leaking out of the state and getting sports betting up and running.
Republican state Senator Denny Hoskins has proposed a bill called SB-1, which would bring legal sportsbooks and Video Gaming Terminals (VDTs) to the state. Hoskins told BetMissouri this week that funds raised would be earmarked for veterans’ homes and cemeteries, plus education.
But that is not the only idea related to gambling that’s floating around the Missouri legislature.
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Missouri House Bill Proposal
House Bill 556, sponsored by Republican state House member Dan Houx of Warrensburg, would introduce “designated sports districts” for betting as well as excursion gambling boats. Under the proposal, the boats could pair with as many as three sports betting partners each.
Both the House and the Senate proposals have much of the same language as bills that failed last year.
But there seems to be some momentum for those hoping that Missourians can soon join their neighbors, along with more than 20 other states, in having legal sports betting.
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