Slots Revenues Up Despite Recession

Despite the recession, gross slots revenues at 7 casinos in Pennsylvania rose nearly 13.8% from April 2008 to last month. That's about a $19 million increase. One casino saw a 2.8% decline in gross revenues: Harrah's Chester Casino and Racetrack which pulled in about $700,000 dollars less last month than it did in April of last year. The Meadows Racetrack and Casino generated $22, 680, 896 in April....up nearly $2.7 million from the preceding April. The 2 biggest gainers were Hollywood Casino at Penn National Racecourse and Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs...both up nearly 42%.
Dr. Antony Davies is an Associate Professor of Economics at Duquesne University. Davies says he's a little surprised about the overall 13.8% increase, but slots have only been legal in Pennsylvania for 2 years and are still in a growth phase. He says the better question is how much more would slots revenues have grown (than the 13.8%) if Pennsylvania and the country had not been in a recession.
Davies says the slots seem to have had a strong effect on the Pennsylvania Lottery but there is not enough data yet. Davies says between 2001 and 2006 lottery ticket sales grew an average of 11% annually and then there was 0% growth for 2 years. Davies says one possibility is that these were the first 2 years of legalized slots in the state and that may have absorbed money that would have gone to the lottery. Still, in the past year, lottery sales have grown by 10%. But Davies says "that is likely due to the recession as it is cheaper to play the lottery than to play slots." He says because it's more convenient to play the lottery compared to driving to a casino, parking, spending time there, and going back home...it's cheaper to play the lottery.