Detroit casinos rebound in March, winning nearly $123.9 million
Detroit casinos rebounded in March after suffering year-over-year losses in the first two months of the year.
Detroit's three commercial casinos won a combined $123.86 million from players last month, the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) announced Tuesday. It was the best March for city casinos since 2019, when gross gaming revenue was $140.3 million.
The MGM Grand in Detroit topped the list with approximately $57 million in GGR. Revenue comes from slot machines, table games and sports betting.
MGM's profits in March were up 4.1% from March 2023. It was also the casino's best month of the year.
MotorCity ranked second with nearly $38.9 million. MotorCity’s March numbers were up 7.2% year over year. The casino is owned by Ilitch Holdings, a family business controlled by billionaire Marian Ilitch who co-founded Little Caesars with her late husband.
The Hollywood Casino in Greektown ranked third with about $28 million.Casinos operated by Penn Entertainment reported a 1.4% drop in profits compared to last year.
Sports betting retail sales at the three casinos totaled $17.25 million. Hollywood sportsbook ESPN Bet topped the list with $731,389 in sports betting revenue. MotorCity's FanDuel book was second with $539,000, and MGM Grand's BetMGM book was third with about $327,800.
March Madness
Detroit's casino market needs a strong month. Casino revenue got off to a bad start in the new year, with GGR down more than 9% to just $94.4 million. Things were slightly better in February, but casino profits were still lower than in 2023 at $104.6 million.
The annual loss in early 2024 compared with 2023, with casino profits down nearly 3% from 2022. MGM, Motor City and Hollywood Greektown combined for $1.22 billion last year, down 2.9% from 2022.
There are more weekend days in March 2024 than in March 2023. Last month included 10 Saturdays and Sundays, two more than March 2023.
State taxes for the three brick-and-mortar casinos totaled about $400,000 more, to $9.9 million. The city of Detroit received an additional $14.5 million, an increase of about $500,000 from last year.
March helped, but first-quarter GGR was still 1.6% below the same three-month period in 2023.
iGaming Impact
As of 2021, there is legal iGaming in Michigan, including online slots and interactive table games. Detroit casinos don’t have a monopoly on online gambling, as tribes in the state that own Class III gaming machines can also partner with iGaming companies like DraftKings and Golden Nugget Online Gaming.
While casino profits in Detroit fell last year, the iGaming business set an annual record. Online slot machines and table games earned $1.9 billion in 2023 from remote players. Online sports betting, in which the tribe also participates, generated $420.4 million in revenue for bettors.
Figures for March iGaming and online sports betting will be released next week. Within two months, the online gaming platform further improved on its record 2023 performance.
iGaming made nearly $370 million in profits in January and February. That’s a 23% increase from January and February 2023, or about $68.8 million. iGaming sites affiliated with Detroit's three casinos contribute about $200 million in online slot machine and table gaming revenue.
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Source: www.casino.org
