Maryland Casino Revenues Rise 12.7% in February

After finishing 2015 on a positive note, Maryland’s casino market has continued its winning ways into 2016 and following a 4% revenue increase in January, has now posted a 12.7% increase in revenues to $93.2 million for February. This represents three consecutive months of growth for the state, with the last decrease in business reported in November 2015 when casino revenues contracted by just 0.5%.
While Maryland’s five casinos were negatively impacted by a major snowstorm that broke out on January 22nd, the month of February brought milder weather which in turn helped boost their revenues. Impressively, all of the state’s casinos subsequently posted year-on-year growth last month.
Accounting for 58% of overall gambling revenues in February was the state’s biggest casino, Maryland Live, which saw its revenues increase by 15% to $54 million compared to the same month in 2015. Meanwhile, the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore was up by 8.8% to $25 million; Hollywood Casino Perryville was up 8.1% to $6.5 million; Ocean Downs reported a 17.1% increase in its slots-only revenues to $3.9 million; and finally Rocky Gap was up 10.3% to $3.8 million.
Going forward, Maryland’s casino market faces increasing competition from nearby states, including those of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York.
Meanwhile, Maryland is expected to open another casino by the end of this year, namely the $925 million MGM casino complex at National Harbor. Interestingly, legislation has already been proposed that would allow smoking to take place in at least one cigar lounge at the venue, even though smoking is banned at all of the state’s other casinos. The decision has naturally met with resistance from other businesses, as well as concerned casino staff, although thus far MGM has said it has no plans to include such a smoking area in its casino design.
“The resort remains compliant with Maryland’s smoke-free law. We at MGM National Harbor are dedicated to ensuring a safe, healthy and comfortable environment for our employees and guests,”explained a company statement.