Michigan’s Gaming Control Board announced on April 9th that MGM, MotorCity, and the Hollywood Casino at Greektown reported a monthly aggregate revenue (AGR) of $123.86 million for March. This indicates that gambling is quite a popular hobby among Detroit residents, and MGM saw the most visits from clients, judging by its market share for March (46%). As for MotorCity and the Hollywood Casino at Greektown, their market shares stood at 31% and 23%, respectively.
Casino gaming continues to reign supreme in Detroit: gambling establishments reported $122.26 million in money earned from slots and table games. In contrast, interest in wagering on sports was notable, yet it only resulted in the city’s sports betting revenue making up a slim portion of the total AGR ($1.61 million).
According to the data, the qualified adjusted gross receipts (QAGR) of sports betting saw an increase of 13.2% compared to March 2023. Additionally, the casino that boasts the best betting QAGR for March is the Hollywood Casino at Greektown, as its QAGR stood at $731,389.
A pattern of improvements can be observed when other comparisons are drawn, particularly with regard to slots and table games. First and foremost, casino revenue for the month of March was up by 3.8% when compared to the same month last year. A notable surge was also recorded in terms of monthly earnings (16.7% increase) versus the figures for February. Last but not least, MGM’s casino revenue was up 4.1% in contrast to March 2023, while for MotorCity, an improvement of 7.2% could be observed.
That is where the positive trend ends, however, since the period from January 1st until March 31st was less generous than last year’s, with a decrease of 1.6% being recorded in terms of casino gaming. Moreover, the Hollywood Casino at Greektown’s results were also not quite as satisfactory as last year’s March, with the casino’s slots and table games generating $27.26 million, making for a 1.4% difference in favor of 2023.
The Three Casinos Contributed Significantly to the State of Michigan
In Michigan, gambling companies are obligated to pay a portion of their revenue in taxes, and the state received $9.9 million from the gambling industry when it comes to casino gaming this March, around half a million more than what the casinos reported in March 2023. As for sports betting, a more modest $60,413 is what the state of Michigan was paid. Detroit also benefited from taxes spruced from wagering: $14.5 million for casino gaming and over $731,300 for sports betting.
While legal businesses contribute to both Michigan and Detroit’s economies, the same cannot be said about illegitimate operations that are not licensed by the state’s gambling regulator. This is one of the many reasons the Michigan Gaming Control Board strives to crack down on illegal gambling business as well as on casino-style gaming machines. Last week, the watchdog reported that a total of 167 such machines were put out of operation last year, while 79 full-fledged pieces of illicit gambling equipment were seized. These efforts also led to 24 individuals being convicted of having conducted illegal gambling operations.
