Hollywood Casino in Wyandotte County reported gaming revenues of $10.57 million for January 2021, about $1.4 million less than revenue figures reported in January 2020.
The gaming revenues have improved when compared to December of 2020, when they were $9.2 million at Hollywood Casino, according to information from the Kansas Lottery.
It was the best January ever for some of the four Kansas state-owned casinos, according to Keith Kocher, director of program assurance and integrity for the Kansas Lottery, He gave a report on the revenues at the Kansas Lottery Commission meeting on Wednesday afternoon.
Kocher said January of 2021 had at least two good things going for it – it had five Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and it also had pretty good weather.
Hollywood Casino in Wyandotte County, and Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, Kansas, had their best revenue months since the COVID-19 restrictions started, Kocher said.
Overall, the state-owned casinos are down 14.7 percent for the fiscal year, he said.
Kocher said he was “guardedly optimistic” about the recovery at the casinos. Although one could attribute the gains to the calendar, nevertheless he is choosing to look at it as a very good month, he said.
The Unified Government receives 3 percent of the Hollywood Casino’s gaming revenues, which totaled $1.9 million in fiscal year 2021, according to Kansas Lottery figures. The state of Kansas received $14,312,484 from Hollywood Casino in fiscal year 2021 for gaming taxes, which are 22 percent of the gaming revenues.
Stephen Durrell, the Kansas Lottery’s executive director, said the casinos had a good month in January, which was encouraging for overall growth.
Now they are facing a rough weather week that could negatively affect February’s figures, he said. He added they have done a very good job of meeting the challenges during the past year. They have tried to maintain staff and keep staff and patrons safe, he said.
He said he is sometimes asked by legislators when the COVID-19 restrictions are going to be lifted at the casinos. Besides masking and distancing, the building capacity is limited. Durrell said he doesn’t know when the restrictions will be lifted, but a lot probably has to do with how the public in general responds to mask-wearing, social distancing and hand-washing to reduce the virus, and also how the vaccines roll out. The questions from legislators were probably aimed at determining future revenues for budget planning, Durrell agreed.
After some very high jackpots in lottery ticket games, Durrell also reported increases in ticket sales for many of the games in Kansas.
There are national changes that will make the Lucky 4 Life game a daily game, and there are other changes being discussed for Powerball and Mega Millions. Durrell said he hoped there would be another large jackpot run this year.
Durrell said the Kansas Senate has begun hearings on sports wagering legislation this week, with the state House planning hearings on it next week.