Missouri Casino Revenue Declines in November to $151.8 Million

The Missouri casino revenue for November was $151.8 million, a 6.3% decline from $162 million in October and the lowest figure for the state since February.

The exact combined figure – $151,811,275 in adjusted gross revenue – derived from the state’s 13 commercial casinos was 28.8% higher than the $117.9 million in revenue from November 2020 in a year-over-year comparison.

Holiday Did Not Slow Activity

One interesting aspect of Missouri casino activity for November is that a major holiday did not significantly slow down the action. The Missouri Gaming Commission reports daily activity broken down by each individual casino.

On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, daily admissions were at a fairly standard level for a Thursday. In fact, at several casinos, the holiday was the best Thursday of the month for admissions.

And at the state’s top riverboat casino, Ameristar St. Charles, the next day – commonly known as Black Friday – saw a monthly high for admissions with 21,031. A few other Missouri casinos also had their biggest crowds of the month on the same day.

Breakdown of Missouri Gaming Revenue

Ameristar St. Charles, near St. Louis, topped Missouri casinos in adjusted gross revenue for November at $23.9 million. The second-highest and third-best figures for the month also came from St. Louis area facilities. River City came in at $19.8 million and Hollywood Casino reported revenue of $18.8 million.

In the Kansas City market, Ameristar was the leader at $16.1 million, then came Harrah’s at $15.1 million.

The majority of the state’s riverboat casinos are in the east (the St. Louis market) or the west (the Kansas City market) near the border. There are five other casinos that Missouri calls “out-state markets” and, of those, Isle in Boonville led the way in November revenue with $6.8 million.

Statewide, slot machines took in $123.8 million in AGR and table games combined for $23.25 million.

Missouri Sports Betting Update

Missouri is no closer to getting online casino real money options any time soon, but sports betting might be a different story.

Several of the state’s professional sports teams, including the Cardinals and Blues in St. Louis and the Royals in Kansas City, are backing Missouri sports betting initiatives to legalize the practice.

The Show Me State has seen neighbors Iowa and Illinois have rampant success with their legal sports betting programs. On Friday, Iowa reported record sports wagering handle at $287.2 million for November. That was the third month in a row that the state reset its record for sports betting handle (Iowa also set mobile handle and revenue records in November). In October, Illinois took in $840 million in sports betting handle, one of the 10 best months ever for any U.S. market and easily the state record.