Detroit Casinos Report $109.69 Million in Revenue for May

Detroit’s three commercial casinos are starting to generate revenue numbers closer to pre-pandemic figures.

According to the latest report from the Michigan Gaming Control Board, the three Detroit casinos reported $109.69 million in aggregate revenue for May while operating at limited capacity because of COVID-19 concerns. The casinos were shut down during May 2023 due to the pandemic. In May 2019, the casinos reported $125.8 million in aggregate revenue from slots and table games while operating at full capacity.

For this May, table games and slots accounted for $107.94 million in revenue with retail sports betting making up $1.75 million.

MGM Grand Detroit held the largest market share with 42%, while MotorCity Casino (36%) and Greektown Casino (22%) made up the rest.

May’s total of $109.69 million in revenue was up slightly from the $108.98 million in April. Detroit’s casinos have seen their revenue increase slightly since reopening after the pandemic shutdown. In their first full month of operation, the casinos reported $90.84 million in revenue and have seen the figure grow steadily ever since.

As the restrictions in Michigan continue to be lifted, allowing more people to visit casinos, the revenues are expected to climb as a sense of normalcy returns to the casino industry.

On June 1, indoor establishments were allowed to run at 50% capacity. Beginning on July 1, all broad epidemic orders will be lifted.

Table Games, Slot Revenue, Taxes

Table games and slot revenue in May was up 0.5% compared to April. MGM held the highest gaming revenue with $46.15 million, followed by MotorCity ($38.19 million) and Greektown ($23.60 million).

For May, the three casinos paid $8.7 million in gaming taxes to the state of Michigan and $12.8 million in wagering taxes and development agreement payments to the city of Detroit.

Retail Sports Betting Revenue and Taxes

The three casinos reported a total sports betting handle of $20.2 million. Total gross receipts came in at $1.8 million. In April, the casinos had a retail sports betting handle of $24.3 million and total gross receipts of $1.5 million.

MotorCity had the highest adjusted gross receipts in May at $709,796, with Greektown at $636,547 and MGM at $402,223. The casinos paid $66,096 in retail sports betting taxes to the state and $80,784 in sports betting taxes to the city of Detroit.

For the year, MotorCity has the highest sports betting qualified adjusted gross receipts at $3.8 million, beating out Greektown ($3.7 million) and MGM ($2.7 million).

Daily fantasy contest operators reported total adjusted revenues of $1.5 million for April and paid $124,727 in taxes.