Ohio Casino Revenues Flat At $812M in 2015

There has been concern that Ohio’s casino market may have reached saturation point, but after ending 2015 on a positive note with December’s revenues the second highest of the year, the market subsequently finished 2015 with $812.3 million in revenues, a slight 0.37% improvement compared to the $809.3 million that was collected in 2014. The state subsequently taxed Ohio’s four casinos at a rate of 33%, funneling $266 million towards state coffers last fiscal year.
As a result of 2015’s overall results, Ohio’s casino industry could more accurately be described as flat, and commenting on the results, gambling industry analyst Alan Silver said: “That doesn’t say ‘saturation’ to me. Once an industry reaches maturity there’s a slow, gradual decline, and it hasn’t really declined yet, so it could still be in a growth stage.”
In December, Hollywood Casino Toledo reported the highest growth with revenues rising by 11% to $16.8 million year-over-year; followed by Hollywood Casino Columbus up 6% to $18.2 million; Horseshoe Cincinnati Casino up 4% to $17.7 million; while the Horseshoe Cleveland Casino saw its revenues tumble by 11% to $18.8 million.
Helping business at the state’s four casinos was an unusually warm December, which in Toledo was the highest for 126 years, reflecting hotter temperatures which have been noted all across the US last month.
In addition to the $812.3 million in casino revenues generated for the whole of 2015, an additional $831 million was contributed by the state’s seven racinos operations, to produce a total $1.64 billion in gambling revenues last year. During the last quarter of 2015, Ohio racinos’ noted an impressive 9% increase in business compared to the same period in 2014, while for the casinos the rise was a more modest 3%. Commenting on the racino operations’ promising growth results, Ohio Lottery spokesperson Marie Kilbane said:
“We’re pleased by the strong growth we’ve seen. As Ohio’s racinos grow in understanding customers’ preferences and the economy improves, we hope to see this trend continue.”