Maryland Casinos Generate Record $99m Revenues In July

With summer in full swing, Maryland’s five casinos are enjoying a bumper season and in July generated an impressive $98.95 million in revenues, up 30% compared to the same month last year, and marking a new monthly high for the Free State. The state subsequently collected 61% of revenues by way of taxes, with the money going towards the General Fund and Education Trust Fund.
Helping to explain July’s huge surge in growth was an uptick in holidaymakers taking to the coastal state to enjoy its fine beach weather, but more significantly the opening of the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore last August, which this July added a further $24.4 million to the casinos’ overall tally. While that figure is less than the $30 million a month predicted before its opening, the casino has been recovering from the riots which erupted in April, and commenting on its latest results, Horseshoe Casino marketing VP, Noah Hirsch, said:
“The perception of downtown really took a hit [but] we did better in July than we did in June. We did better in June than we did in May. So that continued revenue growth is extremely encouraging.”
However, without the venues contribution, Maryland’s casino industry would actually have experienced a 2% decline, or produced $1.4 million less in revenue year-over-year.
Breaking the figures down, the state’s largest casino, Maryland Live! reported revenues of $56.95 million in July, 2.2% lower compared to the same month last year, but still a good result considering the aforementioned Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore was expected to have eaten further into its business. Similarly, the Hollywood Casino Perryville also reported a reduction in business last month, with revenues falling by 8.1% to $6.9 million.
On the other hand, the Casino at Ocean Downs generated revenues 4.9% higher at $6.3 million in July, while the Rocky Gap Casino resort was also up by 4.1% to $4.3 million from the same month in 2014.
As well as surpassing the state’s previous casino revenue record of $96.3 million set in May of this year, the latest results also go some way towards dispelling concern that Maryland’s casino market had become saturated. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen how much impact the $1.2 billion MGM National Harbor will have on numbers when it opens for business in 2016.