Detroit Casinos See Revenue Growth Amid Decline in Sports Betting

In October, Detroit's three commercial casinos experienced a 12.5% increase in revenue compared to the previous year, though retail sports betting saw a significant drop. The MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino, and Penn National's Greektown Casino Hotel collectively generated $114.1 million in revenue. This figure represents a 3.6% increase from September 2021 and a 12.5% boost from October 2020, when the casinos were operating at reduced capacity due to Covid-19 regulations. The majority of the revenue, $111.5 million, came from slots and table games, reflecting an 18.9% rise from the previous year and a 4.2% increase from the previous month. MGM Grand reported the highest growth in revenue compared to October 2020, rising 39.4% to $52.7 million. MotorCity Casino's revenue increased slightly by 1.8% to $36.9 million, while Greektown Casino saw a 10.8% increase to $21.9 million. Together, the three casinos contributed $9 million in gaming taxes to the State of Michigan, compared with $7.6 million last year, in addition to $13.8 million in taxes and payments to the City of Detroit. Despite strong performance from casino gaming, retail sports betting revenue plummeted by 65.2% to $2.6 million. In October 2020, retail wagering was the only legal sports betting option, with online betting becoming available in January 2021. MGM Grand led the sports betting market with $1.4 million in revenue, followed by MotorCity with $671,009 and Greektown at $588,847. Sportsbook players wagered a total of $34.2 million across the three casinos, resulting in a tax contribution of $99,977 to the state and $122,194 to Detroit. For the year ending October 31, MotorCity has maintained the highest revenue from retail sports betting at $7.4 million, followed closely by MGM Grand at $7.1 million and Greektown at $7.0 million.