Detroit casino revenue grows as sports betting dips in October

Detroit’s three commercial casinos saw revenue rise 12.5% year-on-year in October, though there was a sharp decline in retail sports betting’s contribution. 

Total revenue from the MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino and Penn National’s Greektown Casino Hotel came to $114.1m. 

This marked a 3.6% improvement on September 2021, and a 12.5% improvement on October 2020 – a time when the properties were operating at 15% capacity after reopening from their Covid-19 shutdowns. 

The vast majority of the properties’ revenue came from slots and table games, which made up $111.5m of the total, an 18.9% increase from the prior year, and up 4.2% from the prior month.

MGM Grand reported the biggest increase in revenue compared to October 2020, with its monthly revenue growing 39.4% to $52.7m. 

While MotorCity remained ahead of Greektown, its slot and table game revenue was only up marginally, rising 1.8% to $36.9m, with Greektown reporting a 10.8% increase to $21.9m. 

The three properties paid $9m in gaming taxes, compared to $7.6m last year, to the State of Michigan. A further $13.8m in wagering taxes and development agreement payments went to the City of Detroit during the month.

While casino gaming performed strongly, retail sports betting revenue fell significantly. Qualified adjusted gross receipts were down 65.2% to $2.6m, though in October 2020, retail wagering was the only legal form of sports betting, with online betting going live in January 2021. 

Again, MGM Grand led the market with $1.4m in revenue, ahead of MotorCity on $671,009 and Greektown on $588,847. Players staked $34.2m across the three properties’ sportsbooks. 

This resulted in a tax take for the state $99,977, with a further $122,194 paid to Detroit. 

This means that for the year to 31 October, MotorCity tops the market in terms of revenue, with $7.4m. MGM Grand followed on $7.1m, and Greektown on $7.0m.