KANSAS CITY — For the first time since Missouri casinos opened in 1994, Kansas City's riverboat gambling venues took in less money than the previous year.
The 2008 take was just over $719 million, about $1.5 million short of nearly $721 million in 2007. But revenues were up 1.5 percent in December, the first full month after voters repealed the state's loss limit.
It appears that the area's casino revenue grew for the year when the tribal-owned 7th Street Casino in Kansas City, Kan., is included. Based on revenue-sharing payments to the Wyandotte County Unified Government, casino slot machines in 2008 drained more than $10 million from the Missouri marketplace.