Ohio Gambling Revenues To Reach $2bn By 2019

Last month the Ohio Casino Control Commission released its gambling figures, revealing a 5.6% decline in revenues to $79.6 million compared to the $84.3 million generated for the same month last year. In addition, the state’s four racinos added a further $50.9 million in revenues to March’s tally.
For the past five-consecutive quarters Ohio has now seen an uptick in its casino-tax revenues, with its casinos paying their roughly one-third of revenues towards local education, counties, cities, and other uses. There could also be further good news on the horizon, too, as Penn National Gaming Inc CEO Timothy Wilmott says he believes it’s only a matter of time before Ohio becomes a “$2 billion casino state.”
In 2013 Ohio’s four casinos and four racinos generated $1.07 billion in revenues, with its casinos generating $821.28 million last year, and racinos around $249.33 million. In Wilmott’s estimation, Ohio casino revenues will improve to $1.45 billion by the end of 2014, increasing to $1.63 billion in 2015, before eventually reaching $2 billion in 2019, “assuming no added competition from neighboring states.”
Interestingly, the Ohio Department of Taxation also forecast in 2009 that Ohio’s four casinos would generate around $1.9 billion in revenue by 2013. Nevertheless, that figure didn’t take account of racinos and since then there has also been an increase in out of state competition from nearby gambling markets located in Pennsylvania, Indiana, and West Virginia.
However, last month casino revenues were the second-highest ever recorded in Ohio, while racino results reached their all-time peak. Commenting on March’s encouraging results, Duane Bouligny of Wells Fargo Bank Securities, also struck a note of caution, warning:
“It’s still early in the process in Ohio, and we have to let it mature and see, as more [racinos] open, whether there will be cannibalization or growth.”