The 2021-22 fiscal year, which ended on June 30, saw Missouri casino financial records broken, thanks to an adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of just over $1.9 billion (up from $1.726 billion in 2020-21).
Despite breaking its previous high of $1.806 billion in AGR from 2011, Missouri ended the fiscal year with three consecutive months of AGR decline, going from a yearly high of $176.7 million in March 2022 to just $151.6 million in June.
Hoping to top $2 billion in AGR for the first time ever and set a new record, Missouri got on the right track when the 2022-23 fiscal year opened in July. For the month, AGR increased to $169.3 million, a 1.2% increase from July 2021, according to the monthly numbers released by the Missouri Gaming Commission. That revenue was also up 11.7% from the $151.58 million reported for Missouri casino revenue in June.
Who Led Missouri Casino Markets?
Once again, Ameristar Casino in St. Charles led MO casinos in AGR, netting $26.7 million, a slight increase (0.8%) from July 2021. Ameristar Casino was tops in the St. Louis Market, with River City Casino (Lemay) and Hollywood Casino (Maryland Heights) each topping $21 million in AGR.
Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City led the Kansas City Market with $18.2 million in revenue. Argosy Casino Hotel and Spa and Harrah’s each topped $15 million, though Harrah’s had a 7% decline in year-to-year AGR.
In the Out-State Markets, Isle of Capri Casino Hotel in Boonville led the way with $8.3 million in AGR. Its 4.2% increase in year-to-year revenue was tops in the Out-State Market, as well. Century Casino in Cape Girardeau reported $6.2 million in revenue, the Missouri Gaming Commission numbers showed.
Gaming proceeds to education in July were just over $32 million, a 1.2% increase from a year ago ($31.6 million). Missouri casinos have contributed more than $7.3 billion in gaming proceeds to education since the legalization of riverboat gambling.
It was the same increase for gaming proceeds to local government, which totaled just over $3.5 million in July.
Wait for Missouri Sports Betting Continues
Missouri set a record for casino revenue in a fiscal year without the benefit of sports betting. That won’t change any time soon because, as neighboring Kansas gets ever closer to implementing legal sports betting, a Missouri House bill died in the state Senate in May.
Several pro sports franchises in Missouri, including the Kansas City Chiefs, St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Blues, have made their support of sports betting abundantly clear, but to no avail.
The bill, which would’ve brought the legalization of sports betting to the Show Me State, called for nearly 40 mobile skins to be split among six casino operators and six professional franchises while the state’s casinos would operate retail sportsbooks.
But when that Missouri sports betting proposal failed to advance, it left fans hoping for another Kansas City Chiefs title run no choice but to go to nearby states with mobile sports wagering markets such as Iowa, Illinois, Tennessee – and soon Kansas.
