Detroit Casino Revenues Fall 1.9% in October
November 22, 2016 1:58 pmThe Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) has released its latest results for October 2016, revealing that the state’s three casinos generated $110.7 million last month, lower by 1.3% from September’s tally, and down by 1.9% verus October 2015.
Michigan state subsequently collected $9 million in gambling taxes, or $100,000 less than it received in October last year, while the casinos also paid the city of Detroit a further $13.7 million in wagering taxes and development agreement payments.
Leading the Detroit casino market in October was MGM Grand Detroit with $47.3 million in revenues, down by 0.3% year-on-year; followed by MotorCity Casino Hotel down by 1.6% to $37.2 million; and Greektown Casino Hotel down by 5% to $26.2 million. As a result, MGM Grand Detroit currently commands a 43% of the city’s casino market, followed by MotorCity (33%), and finally Greektown (24%).
Detroit Casino Industry
In 1996, Michigan residents voted in favor of allowing three casinos to be built in Detroit, and by 2000 all its current casinos were opened for business. In July 2013, the city subsequently filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy with around $20 billion in debts, which then elevated the importance of Detroit’s casino industry as an extra source of income.
Last year, Detroit casinos produced revenues of $1.38 billion, a 3.3% improvement compared to the $1.33 billion generated in the previous year, and marking the first year-on-year growth since 2011. As is generally the case, most of the casinos’ revenues were derived from their slot operations (83%), with the rest coming from their table games (17%). This resulted in $174.3 million in gambling taxes for Detroit, and as John Naglick Jr, MGCB Detroit Finance Director explained:
“This is certainly an important revenue stream for the city and the increases are favorable news for the city’s general fund.”
Michigan also has 23 tribal casinos, which last year collected $1.5 billion in revenues. In the meantime, Michigan is looking at the possibility of legalizing online gambling across the state, having already approved online lottery games in 2014.