Detroit Casinos Report $90.84 Million in Revenue for January

January marked the first full month of operations for the three Detroit commercial casinos after the most recent state-mandated shutdown. From Nov. 18 to Dec. 23, the casinos were closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In the first month back at limited capacity, Detroit casinos reported $90.84 million in revenue. Table games and slots were responsible for $86.78 million, while retail sports betting produced $4.06 million.

MGM Grand Detroit and MotorCity Casino both held 38% of the market share, with Greektown Casino making up the other 24%.

Compared to January 2023, gaming revenue at MGM fell 32% to $34 million. MotorCity saw a 20.7% decrease in gaming revenue to $33.2 million, and Greektown’s $19.6 million was 30.4% less than its year-over-year revenue.

With the three commercial casinos shut down until Dec. 23, the January monthly revenue accounted for a 293.5% increase from December 2023. The casinos’ January table games and slots revenue decreased by 27.7% compared to the same month last year. Casinos were able to reopen at 15% of their maximum capacity.

The state received $7 million in gaming taxes from the three Detroit casinos, down from $9.7 million for the same month last year. Meanwhile, the three Detroit casinos reported submitting $10.3 million in wagering taxes to the city of Detroit for January.

Retail Sports Betting, Fantasy Contests

Total, the Detroit casinos reported a total retail sports betting handle of $35,684,194 for January. Greektown had the highest retail sports betting qualified adjusted gross receipts with $1,633,569, while MotorCity ($1,566,019) and MGM ($863,439) were second and third.

Qualified adjusted gross receipts are gross sports betting receipts minus the monetary value of free play incentives given out and bet on by players.

On retail sports betting, the three Detroit casinos paid $153,586 in taxes to the state and also reported submitting $187,716 in taxes to the city of Detroit for January.

Fantasy contest operators reported total adjusted revenues of $1.9 million for December 2023. For the full year, they reported $16.7 million in aggregate fantasy contest adjusted revenues and paid $1.4 million in taxes to the Michigan.

Online Numbers to Come Later

Michigan officially launched its online casino gaming and mobile sports betting platforms on Jan. 22, but the results of the state’s launch have yet to be released. The operators are required to file their first revenue reports with the Michigan Gaming Control Board by today, but those will only reflect results from Jan. 22 to Jan. 31.

Mary Kay Bean, communications specialist at the MGCB, also noted the board does not expect to have Super Bowl revenue information until after this week.