Casino study suggests moving DiamondJacks to northeast Louisiana

A new study says that northeast Louisiana would be an ideal place to relocate a casino from the Shreveport-Bossier City area.

The study was just released by Spectrum Gaming Group. It says the Northshore of Lake Pontchartrain and the northeast region of Louisiana are underserved markets for casinos. The study suggests moving two low performing casinos from the Shreveport-Bossier City area to these areas. Such a move would recapture gambling dollars being exported to Mississippi casinos and would further strengthen the remaining casino boats in Shreveport-Bossier City, the study says.

Specifically, Spectrum suggests moving DiamondJacks to northeast Louisiana. They say such a move would lead to $60 million dollars in gross gaming revenue per year and $12.9 million in state tax revenue per year. For comparison, DiamondJacks' actual 2018 revenue was $38.1 million and it generated $8.184 million in tax revenue.

The report also suggests moving Boomtown Bossier City to Northshore. It says Boomtown would bring in $100 million in gross revenue per year, compared to $56.5 million in 2018. Estimated tax revenue would go up to $21.5 million per year from $12.142 million in 2018.

The findings further state: "The Shreveport-Bossier City market is down 21 percent since 2007 due to competition from Oklahoma tribal casinos for Dallas-Fort Worth-area patrons."

The study also touches on the potential impact of sports betting and iGaming in Louisiana. Spectrum projects that Louisiana could generate between $237 million and $332 million in sports betting revenue annually, the report says. It also says, "Sports betting can introduce a new, younger demographic to casinos, a cohort that does not typically have a high propensity to gamble at traditional casino games."

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