Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, Kansas, reported about $9.3 million in casino gaming revenue for October, according to figures from the Kansas Lottery.
The figure is about $3 million below that of October 2019, according to state records. The casino revenues were discussed at a Kansas Lottery Commission meeting Wednesday afternoon.
According to a written report to the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, attendance was down 33 percent at Hollywood Casino during October. Because of the pandemic, the casino faced restrictions on the number of people allowed and the hours open, since last year.
The Hollywood Casino continues to have one of the most challenging markets of the four state-owned casinos, according to Keith Kocher, director of program assurance and integrity for the Kansas Lottery.
Kocher said the state’s casino revenues are continuing about the same level as recent months.
One of the state’s casinos, Boot Hill in Dodge City, Kansas, reported an increase compared to last October, but the other casinos were down, with Kansas Star off about 2.5 percent and Kansas Crossing down about 11 percent, he said.
However, they are trending in the right direction, Kocher said. In July and August the casinos were down about 18 percent collectively, then down 15 percent in September, and now down 14 percent collectively in October, he said. They are making progress, he said, but maybe not as fast as everyone would like.
Hollywood Casino has been under COVID-19 restrictions on the number of people who can be in the building, according to Kocher.
New restrictions came out in Wyandotte County and in the Dodge City area this week, and it remains to be seen what the revenues will do in the future, according to Kocher.
Stephen Durrell, the lottery’s executive director, said Boot Hill Casino will be adding mask mandates, something it didn’t have before.
He said the casinos continue to be very proactive in making sure the staff is aware of what might be occurring with COVID-19 infections.
He said most of the quarantines at the casinos seem to be coming from places other than the casinos, and that people have encountered outside of the workplace. Employees are screened and have temperatures taken before going into the casinos, he added.
The Unified Government receives 3 percent of the casino gaming revenues, while the state of Kansas receives 22 percent.
According to the report to the KRGC, Hollywood Casino has several special events planned in the upcoming weeks, including a VIP shopping spree on Nov. 21, a pie giveaway Nov. 25, a treasure chest Nov. 27, a wireless headphones giveaway on Dec. 4 and a VIP stuff your stockings promotion on Dec. 5.