Funworld October 2007

Gulf Coast Casinos: A Brief History

The Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos trace their history to 1990, when the state legislature passed a law allowing dockside gaming, as long as gambling was conducted over water—meaning on riverboats or barges. Often the massive enclosed barges were seamlessly integrated into a property’s on-land hotel so guests couldn’t tell when they were going from land to water (unless they knew what they were looking for).

The legislation also established the Mississippi Gaming Commission and a tax rate of approximately 12 percent of gross gaming revenues. These revenues are divided between the state (8 percent) and local (4 percent) governments. Also, a certain amount of a casino’s revenue was required to be reinvested in on-land properties, such as hotels, golf courses, etc.

On Aug. 1, 1992, the Isle of Capri in Biloxi became the first casino to open in Mississippi, with three more following by the end of the year. By the time Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005, there were 12 casinos in the region accounting for approximately 17,000 jobs and an annual gross revenue of $1.2 billion.

During Katrina, several barges were ripped from their moorings and moved inland, some up to several hundred yards; beyond the damage to the attached hotels, the barges caused widespread devastation to everything in their paths. Because of this, the Mississippi State Legislature changed its on-water gaming law to allow casinos on land within 800 feet of the water. This new regulation is helping to spur a renaissance period in the Gulf Coast casino industry, allowing for more Las Vegas-style properties and drawing billions of dollars in future investors.

“It’s as different as daylight and dark to me,” says Rick Carter, co-owner of the Island View Casino Resort in Gulfport, of the change to on-land gaming. “Our casino on the barge was very fine, but the mindset of us being a Las Vegas-type casino now has been a tremendous positive.” —Jeremy Schoolfield