By Rick Alm, The Kansas City Star, Mo.
Jul. 12--Riverboat gamblers in Kansas City lost a record $522 million during Missouri's 2000 fiscal year, which
ended June 30.
The 12-month state budget period was the richest in history for the area's four casino companies. Casino revenue
grew by $46.4 million -- or nearly 10 percent -- from the same period in 1999, according to the year-end report
by the Missouri Gaming Commission.
Missouri's 14 riverboat casinos captured nearly $979 million from players, up 9 percent from fiscal 1999.
Those figures represent casino income before taxes, wages and all operating expenses. Gambling taxes levied by
the state and casino host communities alone amounted to $292 million for the period.
Casino executives aren't complaining.
"Everything's moving in the right direction," said Dan Weindruch, general manager of the Flamingo Hilton
Casino, which was purchased last month by Isle of Capri Casinos Inc.
For the fiscal year, Station Casino Kansas City won the race for local market share leader by a nose.
Station grossed $175.45 million and claimed 33.59 percent of the market's revenue, compared with $175.39 million
and a 33.57 percent share for Harrah's North Kansas City Casino & Hotel.
The operators of the market's two largest casinos have been handing off the leadership mantle for the past year,
with Harrah's winning seven of those months, Station five.
"I know I'm going to sound like a broken record," said Station's Midwest president, John V. Finamore.
"But I'm still so surprised at how vibrant this market is. I'm impressed and very pleased."
While Station enjoyed a 7.8 percent bump in revenue growth during the fiscal year, Harrah's increased at half that
pace -- 3.7 percent.
The difference is that Harrah's smaller two-boat facility, with room for 2,593 gamblers, often operates near capacity.
There are always empty chairs at Station's 3,950-seat twin casinos.
Those dynamics may be changing. In May, Harrah's announced it would expand its larger Mardi Gras gambling boat
with a 1,000-seat second-deck addition opening in mid-2001 to relieve crowding, especially on weekends.
While admissions and revenue are up dramatically, gamblers are actually losing less per casino visit today than
they did five years ago.
In the 1995 fiscal year, the Gaming Commission reported, Missouri gamblers lost an average of $24.58 for every
two hours spent gambling.
In 2000, that average was down to $20.17. The difference is volume, with 12 million patron gambling cruises recorded
in 1995 vs. 48.5 million in 2000.
It appears a cinch that the surging revenue will push the Kansas City market's calendar year total past $500 million,
and statewide revenue past $1 billion, each for the first time.
Much of the local market's growth has come since open boarding began in mid-November.
Before the change, casino patrons had to time their arrival to coincide with phantom two-hour "cruise"
departures or wait up to 75 minutes for the next cruise.
With casino doors open all the time, admissions and revenue have been climbing at unprecedented rates since open
boarding began in St. Louis last summer.
The biggest beneficiaries have been the state's one-boat operations, where the waiting time between cruises had
been the longest.
In Kansas City, the Argosy Riverside Casino saw revenue and admissions grow by more than 21 percent the past 12
months.
The Flamingo Hilton Casino, meanwhile, recorded 17.9 percent revenue growth to go along with a 27.9 percent jump
in admissions.
Meanwhile at the Flamingo, Weindruch has served notice on his competitors that Isle of Capri is not entering the
Kansas City market quietly.
Ads have appeared in recent days promoting "double points" for players every day until 6 p.m., plus expansion
of the Flamingo's popular once-a-week all-you-can-eat crab and shrimp fest to daily fare.
Much like frequent-flier miles, gamblers earn points for their play that can be traded for cash, free meals and
other rewards.
Weindruch said double points will replace some of the Flamingo's triple-point bonus promotions, which were used
to build foot traffic on slow weekdays.
Point giveaways are costly to casinos, however, and executives are always wary of triggering a marketing war that
could nibble away at their bottom lines.
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