Data KC: Casinos maintain popularity, see revenue increase

Talk of reopening The Woodlands racetrack with slot machines drew strong opposition last month, and it’s easy to see why. The area’s casino market has seemed saturated since the Hollywood Casino opened near The Woodlands site in Kansas City, Kan., in February 2012, and the Hollywood probably would suffer most if The Woodlands reopened with more than horse or dog racing.

The Hollywood has increased its revenue each year since it opened, but largely at the expense of the four big Missouri area casinos: the Argosy, Harrah’s, Ameristar and Isle of Capri. Those four casinos’ revenues dropped each year from 2011 through 2014 but did recover to varying degrees last year.

Here are some local casino facts, from the casinos’ annual revenue totals and from Scarborough Research’s most recent survey of adults in the marketing region centered on Kansas City:

▪ Casinos remain popular entertainment destinations for thousands of residents. In a survey of nearly 2,000 area adults, 35.4 percent said they had visited at least one casino in the previous 12 months. That was slightly more than the 34 percent who said they had attended a Royals game. Extrapolated over the area’s 33-county marketing region, Scarborough Research estimated two-thirds of a million people went to a casino in that time.

The Ameristar had the highest response, 17.6 percent of those answering; followed by the Hollywood, 11.7 percent; Harrah’s, 9.9 percent; the Argosy, 9.6 percent; and Isle of Capri, 5.5 percent.

   

▪ Area casino revenue hit a record $759.1 million in 2012 but slipped in 2013 and 2014.

▪ It finally ticked back up in 2015, increasing 3.2 percent to nearly $742 million. The Hollywood, though still behind three of the four Missouri casinos in total revenue, led the way in terms of growth. Its nearly $145 million in revenue was up 7.4 percent.

▪ For the Missouri casinos in 2015, longtime market leader Ameristar’s revenue rose 2.9 percent; No. 2 Harrah’s barely budged, rising 0.3 percent; and No. 3 Argosy’s rose 3.6 percent. The Isle of Capri, by far the area’s smallest major casino, increased its revenue 2.25 percent.

This story was originally published March 25, 2016 at 5:50 AM with the headline "Data KC: Casinos maintain popularity, see revenue increase."