Mission Statement

Mission Statement

The Missouri Riverboat Gaming Association (MRGA) promotes the benefits of casino gaming.   As the unifying force in promoting Missouri's riverboat gaming industry, MRGA helps casino companies and their business allies operate and grow responsibly in today's challenging legislative, regulatory, and legal environment.   MRGA supports its members with research and analysis on a variety of market and regulatory issues, as well as communication with policymakers about topics impacting the industry.

Analysis of Missouri Riverboat Gaming

More than 25 million people visited Missouri casinos during 2004 and casino revenues totaled $1.47 Billion. Currently, there are eleven riverboat complexes that employ 11,200 persons. The estimated capital investment for these eleven facilities is $1.8 billion.

Riverboat gaming and admissions are the fifth largest state source of tax dollars for Missouri.

2004 state gaming tax and admission tax:

          $    54,000,000 admission taxes

      $ 265,000,000 gaming taxes

        $ 319,000,000 Total FY 2004

Additionally, 2004 host-city gaming tax and admission tax:

        $54,000,000 admission taxes

    $29,000,000 gaming taxes

  $83,000,000 Total 2004

Total gaming tax and admission tax 2004

$402,000,000

Taxes are calculated in the following manner:

State receives $1 per admission

City receives $1 per admission

State receives 18% of Adjusted Gross Revenue

City receives 2% of Adjusted Gross Revenue

The admission tax initially funds the operations of the state regulatory agency, the Missouri Gaming Commission ($16 million).   The residual of the admission tax is used to annually fund veterans programs ($6 million), National Guard scholarships ($4 million), the Early Childhood Education Fund ($30 million), and the Missouri College Guarantee Program ($5 million).

The 18% tax on AGR is dedicated to the School Foundation Formula. Since riverboat casinos began operating in Missouri in May 1994, riverboat gaming has generated approximately $1.8 Billion for the School Foundation Formula. The state received $418 million from the admission tax ($1 per admission) .   The host cities also received $1 per admission, equaling $418 million, plus 2% of the AGR or approximately $199 million, for a total of $617 million .

At the end of 2004, the total gaming and admission taxes equaled $3.2 Billion. 

Riverboats also pay sales and property taxes. Unlike most other start-up businesses, riverboats are denied property tax abatement and in several locations they represent the largest source of property tax within a community.   In addition, many host cities receive additional revenue as part of their lease agreement with the casino companies.   In 2004, sales taxes, property taxes, and rent payments totaled an additional $41 million. 

In addition to funding the operations of the Missouri Gaming Commission through the admission fee, Missouri riverboats reimburse the State for the full cost of the highway patrolmen who are assigned to the regulatory agency. These reimbursements total approximately $7 million per year.

When gaming was introduced in Missouri, critics warned of a host of social ills that would follow, such as a dramatic increase in the number of pathological gamblers, rising crime rates, and cannibalization of other businesses. The gaming firms and state regulators have addressed each of these alleged theories of social costs. The facts simply do not support the allegations. For example, the opponents of gaming allege that casinos do not add economic benefit because casino-related spending is merely the displacement of money that would have been spent elsewhere in the economy.   However, a recent study found that in 2002, gaming injected $567 million to the Missouri economy, even after accounting for displaced spending.

The Missouri Department of Mental Health provides free problem gambling treatment for any Missouri resident and their immediate family members.   This free treatment is financed through the Compulsive Gamblers Fund, which receives one cent of each admission fee paid by the casino operators to the State.   According to the Department, the number of people who sought treatment during the last year through the Department's program is 350. Another index of the scope of the problem comes from the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC). MGC has developed a process by which people can exclude themselves from the casinos. To date, approximately 7,900 people have placed themselves on the list of disassociated persons.

Because the gaming industry is concerned that just one problem gambler is too many, the industry has a series of voluntary programs in place to address the issue head-on. Critics of gambling cite anecdotal instances of alleged abusive gambling, but never discuss the issue in the context of 25 million visitors to Missouri's eleven casinos.

In the early years of casino gambling, the critics asserted that casino jobs would be minimum wage and ephemeral.   But in fact, in a recent MRGA survey of casino employees, 54% of the respondents indicated that their current casino job paid better wages than their previous job.

Some people do not like gambling and it is not sufficient for them to simply avoid it for themselves. Rather, the anti-gambling groups believe that they should try to regulate the behavior of others.   However, Missouri's voters have rejected these efforts and affirmed their support for gambling and holding down increases in their taxes in three statewide votes. And according to rankings by the St. Louis Business Journal and the Kansas City Business Journal , gaming venues represent the top four attractions in Kansas City and are five of the top nine in St. Louis. Gaming has indeed become a mainstream activity enjoyed and supported by millions of Missourians.