Casino revenue climbing after re-opening amid the pandemic

SOMERTON, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The Arizona Department of Gaming (ADG) announced $13.9 million in tribal gaming contributions, to the Arizona benefits fund, for the state’s first quarter of the fiscal year.

Now that local casinos are back open, we’re seeing revenue climb once again. 

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, tribal partners voluntarily closed casinos across the state.

Following two months of silent slot machines, empty card tables, and closed doors, casinos in the state saw a 52% decrease from this time last year.

Christine Palmer visits casinos in our area, regularly.

“They are doing such an awesome job keeping everything clean so I feel totally safe good social distancing, and me personally just getting out of the house for a change is great so I come here for a couple of hours and get to do a little,” Palmer said.

An upwards of 8% of revenue generated by casinos goes to the state, cities, towns, and counties to be used for public services.

Palmer tells me why it's not just about the fun.

“I think first and foremost employees were laid off you know like a lot of places around here people had nowhere to go and the money. How I know that casinos, donate or, you know, finance, a lot of community projects and they can't do that if they don't have the revenue coming in which is me going in there and playing,” she explained.

We reached out to casinos in town to see how the closures affected them and what it’s like bouncing back. We’re still waiting to hear back from the Cocopah Casino. Paradise Casino declined to comment.