Biloxi celebrates 30 years of dockside casinos

By Clinton Courier | April 26, 2022 |

When the first riverboat casinos were launched in Biloxi in 1992, it would have been difficult to comprehend that it would create an industry raising an annual revenue of over one billion dollars.

The dockside casinos were introduced to create jobs and boost an ailing economy suffering from a drop in tourism. The faith in casinos has paid dividends, with all casinos in Biloxi generating $101,555,885 in gaming revenue in March 2022, which is the first time in history that revenue has reached nine figures.

Casinos in the State of Mississippi were developed to provide an alternative to Las Vegas, with the Silver State city remaining the model for all other casino cities to follow. This has also led to online casinos capitalizing on the association with Las Vegas by creating online offerings based on Sin City. Online players have the opportunity to play on live dealer casinos featuring traditional card games such as blackjack, baccarat, and poker along with table games such as roulette and craps.

The history of riverboat casinos

When the first riverboat casino, the Isle of Capri, opened in 1992, thousands queued to attend with two more casinos, the President Casino and the Biloxi Belle, soon following. This was the beginning of the casino boom and takings exceeded all expectations with all casinos in Biloxi combined generating gaming revenue of $77,538,532 in the first year.

Biloxi Senator Tommy Gollott was the driving force behind the legislation to approve dockside gambling, but he had a hard time convincing others: “When I came with the legislation, one of my colleagues, he would get up and challenge me on all of it, and he said there was no way that you’re going to bring in $25 million or $30 million a year.” In fact, the casino industry now brings in over a billion in revenue in the state of Mississippi each year and has created about 15,000 jobs in the Magnolia State in the past 30 years.

The development of floating casinos

This has been driven in part by the development of the casinos in Biloxi. The Beau Rivage Casino exemplifies this in Biloxi, which despite its land-based appearance, is actually a floating casino. The Beau Rivage is an engineering wonder which became necessary to deal with mother nature as unpredictable tides and hurricanes in order to satisfy state laws. This structure was put to the test during the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and was one of the few Mississippi Gulf Coast casinos which survived intact.

The arrival of inland casinos

The effects of Katrina on the gambling industry in the state led to a change in the law, which allowed the development of inland casinos. This created an environment for casinos such as the Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort, to thrive. The casino still provides views of the Back Bay of Biloxi, but the inland location provides protection against tropical cyclones.

As the casino industry looks back on 30 years in Biloxi, the sector continues to benefit from developments in the form of structural engineering and state laws allowing inland casinos. The gaming industry has just celebrated a month of record revenue and more milestones are likely to be reached in the future.