Detroit Retail Casinos Report Identical Gambling Revenue to Previous Year

According to latest statistics from the Michigan Gaming Control Board, the three retail casinos in Detroit have recorded a total revenue of $105.6 million in May 2023. Barely 1% of this aggregate revenue came from retail sports betting while the larger chunk was from slots and table games. May 2023 also saw Detroit casinos post similar figures to May 2022 where the monthly aggregate revenue was $108.7 million.

From May’s figures, MGM still maintains a larger share of the market, generating 47% of the revenue while MotorCity and Hollywood Casino accounted for 31% and 22%, respectively.

MGM Grand Detroit retained its position as the leading retail casino in the city with an aggregate revenue of $49.7 million. It generated a massive $49.3 million from casino gaming and another $470K from retail sports betting. Compared to May 2022, the casino’s gaming revenue declined slightly by 1.4% while also dipping by 1.9% from April 2022.

May marked the first time since November when MGM Grand did not make up to $50 million in a month. The casino had maintained a five-month streaking of attaining $50 million, including throughout the first four months of the year. Cumulatively, the venue has now generated a total $254.2 million since the year began, 1.3% lower than its trajectory last year.

The closest competition, MotorCity Casino reported $32.1 million in monthly aggregate gaming revenue while Hollywood Casino at Greektown rounded up with $23.3 million. For the latter casino, its revenue went up 7.4% from May 2022 but declined by the same percentage when compared to April 2023’s revenue. On the other hand, MotorCity saw a 7.1% drop in revenue from a year-over-year perspective while from April, it declined by 6.1%.

Hollywood Casino ended May as the only retail platform with a year-over-year increase. The casino’s $122.7 million revenue in the first five months of 2023 is 9.6% higher than the pace over the same period in 2022. For MotorCity, it recorded the highest decline among all three retail casinos in the city with a $5.5 million loss off from the first five months of this year.

The three casinos in Detroit posted a total sports betting revenue of $921,268 in May 2023, the highest ever its recorded since the year began. Despite a positive jumbo from April, compared to May 2022, gross revenue dwindled by 61.5%. Sports betting handle came down 25.6% from May 2022 to $16.9 million while wagering hold also dropped from 10.5% in 2022 to 5.4% in May this year.

Interestingly, MGM Grand Detroit crossed $1 million in aggregate revenue over the past four months, and pooled $470K in earnings from about $4.3 million wagers handled in May 2023 alone. As for MotorCity, its revenue in May grew positive by over $2.1 million from April after it gained $395,677 from a wagering handle of $5.3 million.

Hollywood Casino at Greektown, however, generated $27,545 in sports betting revenue bringing its total tally for the year yet to $2.4 million. This takes it ahead of both MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity in this respect.

The PENN Entertainment-managed casino also stands ahead of other Detroit venues in terms of betting handle after reporting a gross of $30.9 so far in the year. Hollywood Casino further accounts for 41.9% of the retail sports wagering in the entire Michigan in 2023.

Revenue from table games and slots dropped by 1.4% from May 2022 and by 4.5% compared to April 2023. However, the first five months of 2023, ending on May 31, reported a growth of 0.4% relative to the same period last year.

During the outgone month, the retail casinos in Detroit paid $8.5 million worth of taxes to Michigan state authorities. This is almost identical to the $8.6 million they paid in the same period, accounting for the slight drop in aggregate revenue. The casinos also submitted $12.5 million in wagering taxes and development agreement payments in May.

Finally, operators of fantasy contests generated an adjusted revenue of $2.1 million while paying $175K in taxes. In terms of sports betting revenue taxes, the sportsbook divisions reported paying $33K in state taxes and $41K to the City of Detroit.