Detroit Casinos Post $50.4M in November Revenue Amid Shutdown

On Nov. 17, Detroit’s three commercial land-based casinos closed their doors as part of the state-mandated shutdown from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Up to that point, gaming revenue was on track to match October’s.

But because of the closure, Detroit casinos reported just $50.4 million in aggregate revenue for November, down from $101.4 million in October, according to figures released Wednesday. Figures could be worse in December as the state has extended the casino closures until Dec. 20.

For November, blackjack and free slots produced $48.1 million in revenue, while retail sports betting totaled $2.3 million in revenue. The total sports betting handle for the month was $25 million down over $21 million compared to October’s $46.1 million.

MGM Grand Detroit recorded the highest gaming revenue for November with $20.5 million, down from $37.8 million in October. MotorCity Casino tallied $17.5 million, which was less than half the total from October’s $36.3 million. Greektown Casino’s revenue dropped from $19.7 million in October to $10.1 million for November.

MGM Grand Detroit had the largest market share at 42%, while MotorCity was at 37% and Greektown had 21%. The November market sharers are based on aggregate revenue, including table games, slots and retail sports betting.

Due to pandemic, revenue down from a year ago

As expected, the gaming revenue continues to be down compared to the same time frame from a year ago. November’s table games and slots revenue fell 61.3% compared to November 2019 and was down 48.7% from the $93.8 million generated in October 2023. For the year, table games and slots revenue decreased 54.9% compared to January through November 2019.

When compared to the same month last year, MGM Grand Detroit’s gaming revenue is down 62.1% to $20.5 million. MotorCity is down 57.1% to $17.5 million, while Greektown has suffered the largest dropoff at 65.7% to $10.1 million.

The three casinos submitted $5.7 million in wagering taxes and development payments to the city of Detroit in November. The casinos also paid $3.9 million in gaming taxes to the state, a substantial decrease from $10.1 million in November of 2019.

Sports Betting Revenue and Fantasy Contests

MotorCity led in qualified adjusted gross receipts for sports betting with $1.1 million, ahead of MGM Grand Detroit ($561,372) and Greektown ($645,310). Qualified adjusted gross receipts are gross sports betting receipts minus the value of free play incentives provided to and wagered by players.

MGM Grand Detroit totaled the highest in aggregate retail sports betting qualified adjusted gross receipts with $7.4 million. MotorCity was next with $5.4 million, and Greektown had $3.4 million.

Total, the three casinos paid $88,363 in state taxes and submitted $107,999 in retail sports betting taxes to the city of Detroit.

During October, fantasy contest operators reported total adjusted revenues of $2.2 million and paid taxes of $183,236. The fantasy contest operators also reported $12.4 million in aggregate adjusted revenues and paid $1 million in taxes through the month of October.