Xavier Bishop

Casinos have had an enormous economic impact on the Coast. They’ve spawned considerable growth in all of the cities that have them. The rise of Biloxi as a Coastal superpower is directly linked to having casinos. So imagine what a casino could do for Moss Point.

By some estimates a casino in Moss Point would bring in revenues of around 4 – 6 million dollars per year. That’s because over 70% of the patrons who visit casinos in Biloxi travel through Moss Point and Jackson County to get there.

But current legislation makes it nearly impossible for Moss Point to ever have a casino. And there’s an effort in the general assembly to pass legislation that would limit the placement of casinos in the state to counties where they currently exist, effectively closing the door to the cities in Jackson County ever benefiting from casinos.

All of this goes a long way toward solidifying Biloxi’s status as the casino capital of the Coast, but more importantly it gives that city a virtual monopoly on casino revenues along the Coast.

Had the voters in Jackson County approved casinos we could have tried to place a casino somewhere in the county, but it would have been more practical to broker a partnership with Biloxi.

Consider this: In exchange for not having a casino in Jackson County (and thereby conceding casinos to Biloxi and Harrison County,) we could have sought a partnership agreement with Biloxi whereby we’d share the revenues generated by their exclusive right to casinos. Think about, we could have agreed not to have casinos in Jackson County, allowing hundreds of thousands of people to pass through to the casinos in Biloxi, and in exchange Biloxi would agree to share its revenue. That would have been a true win-win.

 Sound far-fetched? Maybe, maybe not. But by voting “no” to casinos in Jackson County, and with the governor certain to sign into law legislation that would limit casinos to counties where they already exist, all we’re left to ponder is the proverbial question: What if?