Detroit Casinos Post Disappointing April Revenues

The three commercial casinos in the Michigan city of Detroit had an April to forget as their aggregated gaming revenues decreased by 0.2% year-on-year to stand at about $109.4 million.

This depressing result came even though the city’s Campus Martius Park had welcomed a record 775,000 fans of American football for the latest three-day edition of the NFL draft. 

It also followed a March in which the trio’s combined gaming receipts had swelled by 18.3% month-on-month and 3.9% year-on-year to a four-year high of $123.8 million.

Faltering Figures

Official information from the Michigan Gaming Control Board regulator showed the three casino destinations had amassed approximately $107.8 million in combined slot and gaming table revenues for April, which equated to a decline of 11.7% month-on-month and 1.5% year-on-year.

Continuing this downward trend, the trio moreover saw their aggregated receipts from retail sports betting drop by 1.8% month-on-month to just shy of $1.6 million, although this represented a significant improvement on the $120,350 tally produced for April of 2023.

Aggressive Atmosphere

Detroit has been home to the 400-room MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino Hotel and Hollywood Casino at Greektown for over 20 years with the three altogether offering an array of around 9,800 slots as well as nearly 280 gaming tables.

However, the trio has been facing increased competition over the last few years from the growing number of legalized online casinos and sports betting websites along with the rising popularity of the 389-room Caesars Windsor, which is located just across the Detroit River in Ontario, Canada.

Prolonged Picture

For the first four months of 2024, the three Detroit casinos have now amassed slightly over $432.2 million in aggregated gaming revenues, which represents a fall of almost 1.3% year-on-year. 

This comes as their combined receipts from slot and gaming tables stands 1.6% lower at some $428.8 million although the tally from their retail sports betting operations is almost 70% higher at approximately $3.5 million.

Specific Status

The Michigan Gaming Control Board furthermore detailed MGM Grand Detroit saw its April revenues from slot and gaming tables descend by 0.7% year-on-year to slightly beyond $49.8 million while the nearby MotorCity Casino Hotel posted a 4.5% decline to some $32.6 million. 

There was some good news for Hollywood Casino at Greektown as its monthly tally in this area grew by 0.6% to surpass $25.3 million.

Diminished Duties

The regulator asserted all of this led the three Detroit casinos to pay over $8.7 million in associated gaming taxes to the state, which was still a fall of roughly 2.2% year-on-year, alongside city wagering fees and development agreement payments of $12.8 million. 

For retail sports betting, the Michigan Gaming Control Board stated these disbursements had come in 14.2% lower at $59,362 and $72,554, respectively.