January slot machine revenue from Pennsylvania casinos saw a slight drop from the previous year due to the harsh winter weather that affected travel.
The amount of gross revenue generated in January 2011 through the play of slot machines at Commonwealth casinos decreased 3.73 percent over the previous year, according to figures released today by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board.
In releasing the monthly revenue figures, Board Executive Director Kevin O'Toole said casino management has expressed to him that weather played a key part in holding down monthly revenue.
"In my recent visits to casinos, primarily those in the eastern portion of the Commonwealth, operators explained that the crippling weather in January held down attendance at their facilities and affected revenue," O'Toole explains. "We expect slot revenue numbers to rebound if the weather improves."
O'Toole emphasized the point by additionally stating that this was the first time that an overall monthly revenue figure from slot machine gaming had fallen from the same month in the previous year.
The play of slot machines at the ten operating casinos produced $177,317,920 in gross revenue in January 2011 compared to $184,214,974 in January 2010. Tax collections by the Commonwealth on that amount last month was $97,056,310, a per-day average of $3.13 million in tax revenue.
In a comparison of the revenue for just the nine casinos operating in January 2011 that were also open for the full month of January 2010, there was a decrease of 9.22 percent.
The complete report is available online.
