After eight months of lagging year-over-year revenue, Detroit casinos are now moving in the opposite direction. The Michigan Gaming Control Board announced Monday that Detroit casinos collected $105 million from table games and slots in February. That’s a 9.8% increase from February 2022.
It’s also a 1.6% increase over January, which had snapped an eight-month string of yearly dips in casino revenue.
Detroit retail sportsbooks also increased their revenue year over year, but that comes with a bit of a caveat. The $458,752 in revenue is well ahead of the more than $870K loss retail books took a year ago. That’s despite only $12.2 million in handle, well below the February 2022 number of $25.4 million.
Detroit casino revenue trending up compared to 2022
Prior to this January, April 2022 was the last month that saw a yearly rise in revenue at Detroit casinos. That rise was due in part to April 2021 still falling under pandemic restrictions.
But May and June were the same in the 2021, and didn’t result in 2022 rises. They were the first of eight straight months of year-over-year decreases in revenue.
In February, MGM Grand Detroit led the way with 47% of the market share ($50 million), followed by MotorCity Casino at 30% ($31.2 million) and Hollywood Casino at Greektown at 23% ($23.7 million).
Both MotorCity and Hollywood saw slight monthly gains from January, while MGM Grand was nearly identical. All three were up from the year before, however.
The three Detroit casinos combined to pay $8.5 million state wagering tax, and $12.5 million in total city wagering tax.
Retail sports betting handle at Detroit Casinos still lagging
Sports betting at Detroit casinos continues to fall. February’s handle of $12.2 million is the third lowest total month since sports betting was legalized in Michigan in 2020.
Only August of 2022 ($11 million) and December 2020 ($9.7 million) were lower, and December of 2020 saw casinos closed through the first three weeks.
Barstool Sportsbook at Hollywood Casino handled the most money in February, but it was a close race between the three. It brought in $4.3 million, while FanDuel Sportsbook at MotorCity brought in $4.1 million. BetMGM Sportsbook at MGM Grand handled $3.7 million in bets.
