[Mississippi] Renewed interest in Gulf Coast by casino industry

[RedAkston]

Renewed interest in Gulf Coast by casino industry - Regional Wire - SunHerald.com

BILOXI, Miss. -- Seeing Gulf Coast casino revenue top 2009 levels in five of the last seven months has renewed investors' interest in casino development in South Mississippi.

Gary Pedigo, general manager of Phoenix Gaming, said he's probably had more inquiries in the last two months than in the last two years on the casino site the company owns in East Biloxi.

"The coastal casino and hospitality industries fought off the recession, fought off the BP oil spill, and still only experienced a 2.5 percent reduction," said John Hairston, a member of the Mississippi Gaming Commission. "That is, in actuality, a stunning success."

The state of the casino industry in South Mississippi is better than in many other casino jurisdictions, Gaming Commission chairman Jerry St. Pe said. The challenge for the commission this year is considering what the investment and makeup of a new casino should be.

Since I live in Gulfport and work in Biloxi (they are right next to each other) at a casino, I have to say that the thought of new casinos being built kind of scare me. There are plans in the works to build a 'Margaritaville' casino on the back bay. It's much smaller than the original plan (it was a Harrah's/Jimmy Buffett/Simon Brothers venture on the beach and a big reason why I moved here), but if they build 2 or 3 new casinos, I'm not sure that will be a good thing under the current economic conditions. We'll see what happens, but I don't see "more of the same" as benefiting the industry here at all, I see it as hurting the industry.

 

[reaper]

Biloxi has many casinos and bases its income off the revenue of the casinos. D'iberville does the same. Gulfport has only one casino. The construction will bring jobs to the area but only if they are jobs hired locally. Out of state contracting does MS and Harrison County or the cities no good. As for revenue for the cities from the casinos, I am sure it will bring some cause people cant help but to gamble their. I also admit that the Hard Rock and The Beau Rivage have brought income due to the shows they bring no matter how old the artists (LOL). The casinos bring in more artists through their vegas links than any other place in MS. The main problem with all cities right now is crooked city aldermen who want any business(es) to line their pockets before they can get the approval to start construction and get business permits.