State-licensed casinos in Louisiana have released their revenue figures for 2011, demonstrating a flat growth when comparing them to the year before.
According to state figures in a report by CBS Money Watch, the state’s casinos took $2.37 billion last year, which is virtually the same as 2010.
However, December’s tally totalled $201.9 million, which was down 1.2% from $204.3 million in the same month in 2010. When breaking the figures up, the 13 riverboat casinos won $138.6 million, while Harrah’s downtown New Orleans casino took in $32.1 million and the four race track casinos won $31.2 million.
Considering the current economic climate, that ain’t too bad. And anything’s better than a drop, right?
Over in Illinois, supporters of the expansion of gambling have said they are working toward a “breakthrough agreement” that might finally clear the way for five casinos in different cities across the state, those being: Chicago, Rockford, Lake County, south Cook County and Danville.
Representatives of the state’s casinos, the horse racing industry and the offices of Governor Pat Quinn and Mayor Rahm Emanuel met in Springfield earlier in the week, negotiating the final hurdle to getting a bill signed into law.
The talks have been ongoing since last month, but as reported by Chicago News Scoop, they may result in a deal that does not include slot machines at racetracks.
However, the negotiations are not over yet. Executives say they do want slots, but it’s more a matter of finding options that would instead “give the racing industry a more stable and accessible revenue stream enforceable by the courts”, participants in the negotiations said.
