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The decline of Tunica’s flagship casino industry manifested itself again Tuesday with Tunica Roadhouse Casino announcing its gaming operations will end in January.

Owner Caesars Entertainment pointed to increased competition as the main driver behind the gaming space closing. According to the Mississippi Gaming Commission, the Roadhouse Casino had 377 non-hotel employees in October.

Now, as the company shuts down that operation, officials are asking what’s next for the space and figuring out how to lift an economy so reliant on the gaming industry.

Tunica casino industry has declined

When Tunica’s first casino opened in 1992, there were far fewer commercial casino options, said Webster Franklin, president and CEO of the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Tunica soon transformed from an agriculture-driven community to a gambling destination as other casinos popped up in the area. 

But more competition popping up throughout the country has dented Tunica’s collective casino operations, not just Roadhouse, Franklin said. The Great Recession and the 2011 Mississippi River floods also hurt business, he added.

Annual gross gaming revenues at casinos in Mississippi River counties have been steadily declining, according to Mississippi Department of Revenue figures. In 2006, those counties brought in $1.66 billion in revenue. That dropped to roughly $885 million in revenue in 2017.

“The landscape in the gaming industry is much, much different today than it was when our destination developed,” Franklin said. “The question is now what do we do to sustain that industry and the health of the industry?”

The closing of the Tunica Roadhouse Casino, which features slots and table games, won’t affect casino revenue in any dramatic way, Franklin said.

“What it’s doing is basically cutting back a number of table games and slots that are already offered in the overall market,” he said.

Scott Barber, Caesars Mid-South regional president, said in an emailed response to questions that the company is working to relocate all of Roadhouse’s table games staff to Horseshoe.

The company believes only about 125 Roadhouse employees will be displaced, and Barber said they will be eligible for transfer to job openings across the Caesars network.

Including Roadhouse, there are currently eight casinos in the Tunica area, per the Tunica Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Gaming's influence felt among locals

Other industries in and around Tunica rely on the traffic that the casinos attract.

"The more people that are around and visiting the casinos definitely helps our business," said Bill Lee, owner of Hollywood Cafe in Robinsonville, Mississippi.

Although locals have contributed their share to area businesses, gaming tourists have had a noticeable, positive effect, Lee said. Those businesses could better withstand a decline in the gaming economy if Tunica continued to diversify, he added.

“It needs to be more than just gaming,” Lee said. “We need more stuff for families to do, too.”

Eyeing a slot machine to play in Roadhouse around noon Wednesday, Hernando resident Ronnie Wilson said the traffic at Roadhouse pales in comparison to other Tunica casinos like Gold Strike Casino Resort and Hollywood Casino. And that’s not factoring in the Caesars-owned Horseshoe Casino.

“To have them side by side is ridiculous,” said Wilson, who has visited the Roadhouse casino for the past decade, of Roadhouse and Horseshoe’s proximity. "They're losing money."

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Roadhouse Casino's end different from Harrah's

Caesars closing a struggling property isn’t anything new, said Barry Jonas, a gaming analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

Jonas noted Harrah’s Casino Tunica — which Franklin said hit Tunica much harder than the Roadhouse announcement will — closed in 2014 because of rising competition. Caesars also shut down Showboat Atlantic City’s casino that same year.

“Tunica competitors have recently cited rising promotional activity, largely from private operators, as impacting profitability,” Jonas said. “Additionally, recent casino legalization in Arkansas will likely be headwind going forward.”

Still, Caesars will have a Tunica presence going forward after Roadhouse’s gaming operations shutter. The property’s 135-room hotel will remain open, and the Horseshoe Tunica casino next to Roadhouse is still up and running.

Franklin is hopeful Caesars will consider an alternative use for the Roadhouse Casino property, with past conversion examples being restaurants and meeting spaces. Gaming operations occupy more than 30,000 of the 152,000 square feet of space at Roadhouse, per the Mississippi Gaming Commission.

Barber said Caesars doesn’t have anything to report currently on the future of the gaming operations space.

What's next for Tunica's gaming industry?

Tunica officials have been active in figuring out the next steps to bolster the area’s outlook, and a crucial wrinkle in that is economic diversification efforts, said Charles Finkley Jr., executive vice president of the Tunica Chamber of Commerce. But Finkley still believes gaming will continue to play a role in Tunica well into the future.

“I see it always being a part of the economy, even with the casinos they’re building in Arkansas,” Finkley said. “State legislation is allowing us to be competitive, and we’re going to work to remain competitive in the gaming industry. We’re optimistic.”

Major changes have been introduced to Mississippi gaming of late, from sports betting to approval of a state lottery. While Franklin says sports betting has helped the Tunica market increase participation and attract a younger audience, how the state lottery will affect Tunica casinos is more of an unknown.

“It’s hard to say if a state lottery plays into the closure as we haven’t seen conclusive data that one meaningfully cannibalizes the other over the long run,” Jonas said.

Barber said changes in laws or regulations in Mississippi didn’t play a role in Caesars decision.

Max Garland covers FedEx, logistics and health care for The Commercial Appeal. Reach him at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  or 901-529-2651 and on Twitter @MaxGarlandTypes.