Economic Effects of Hurricane Katrina - Gambling and Entertainment

Gambling and Entertainment

Katrina forced many casinos along the Mississippi Gulf Coast to close and evacuate. The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino was scheduled to open the first week of September, but did not open until June 30, 2007. The Beau Rivage was severely damaged by water that reached the third floor, but seems to have suffered the least damage of the beachfront casinos. Grand Casino Biloxi had its mammoth gaming barge blown across U.S. 90. Treasure Bay's pirate ship was heavily damaged and washed ashore, it was subsequently dismantled down to the underlying barge. The President Casino Biloxi was washed across U.S. 90 and landed on top of a Holiday Inn, nearly a mile (1.6 km) from the casino's berth.

In Gulfport, the western Grand Casino Gulfport barge, containing Kid's Quest, washed across U.S. 90 and was left blocking the highway. The Copa Casino barge was pushed onto land next to the Grand Casino Gulfport's parking garage. Casino Magic and Isle of Capri in Biloxi both suffered heavy damage to their gaming barges, likely beyond repair. Before the storm, at least 14,000 people were employed at Gulf Coast casinos.

Harrah's New Orleans closed shortly before the storm and sustained storm damage. The building was also used by first responders as a base of operations in the days following the storm. The casino reopened on February 17, 2006, just in time for Mardi Gras, and the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi, reopened on August 29, 2006, on the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall. The Grand Casino Biloxi is undergoing extensive renovation, and is expected to reopen during the summer of 2006. The Grand Casino Gulfport was destroyed as portions of the structure collapsed across Highway 90 and was demolished.

Mississippi will lose approximately $500,000 in tax revenue for each day that the Biloxi-area riverboat casinos are closed, and about $140,000 per day for the South River region casinos. As a comparison, in 2004, Mississippi earned $2.7 billion in casino revenues, third behind Nevada and New Jersey ($10.3 billion and $4.8 billion, respectively).

Katrina was directly related, three years after the hurricane, to the controversial National Basketball Association Seattle SuperSonics relocation to Oklahoma City. New Orleans' NBA franchise was forced to move temporarily; the Hornets chose a mix of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, and the Ford Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma while New Orleans Arena was being rebuilt. The success of the Hornets in the Ford Center (which the Hornets had a deal where the team would split its games for two years) directly led to Oklahoma City interests purchasing the Seattle SuperSonics, which was for sale, and move to become the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008.