The Golden Nugget moved in right next door to L’Auberge, the top-grossing riverboat in the state, leaving many prognosticators to wonder whether the new arrival would kickstart some market cannibalization.Įight months later, L’Auberge’s revenues are up, and the Golden Nugget is thriving.
The proposition did not seem to bode well for competitors. For the first time since before Katrina, all 15 of the state’s riverboat licenses were actively in commerce, an expansion of casinos at a time when many are shuttering nationally. The opening of the Golden Nugget Lake Charles late last year was a flag-in-the-mud moment for the gaming industry in Louisiana.
