Golden Nugget knows where its bread is buttered.
The online operator for Ojibwa Casinos and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community continues to strengthen its offering among Michigan online casinos.
This has led to what will be a record year of revenue for Golden Nugget’s online casino in the state. That, all the while its online sportsbook continues to lay near the bottom.
Golden Nugget Casino Michigan up 15% in 2023
Just like we have seen with a lot of Michigan online casinos in 2023, Golden Nugget Casino Michigan is up significantly.
Through the first nine months of the year, Golden Nugget is at $62.1 million in revenue. That alone is already well ahead of the $50.6 million Golden Nugget made in its entirety for 2021.
Through the first nine months of 2022, Golden Nugget had amassed $53.7 million. That means the operator is up 15.6% in revenue through 2023 thus far.
Last year’s total revenue for 2022 was $72.6 million, so Golden Nugget is easily on pace to shatter that mark.
September was a big month for Michigan online casinos overall, but interestingly enough Golden Nugget’s peak revenue month came in August. That month, Golden Nugget recorded $7.22 million in revenue. It bested the previous record of $7.21 million in January.
Golden Nugget building its game library
Golden Nugget has been investing in adding to its online gaming library.
At the start of November, Golden Nugget was up to 840 different slot options. That was fifth-most of any online casino operator in the state. It also offers 44 different jackpot slots, which ranks sixth among state operators.
That’s a jump of over 200 slot games compared to March, when Golden Nugget offered just 634 slots.
On top of the slot options, Golden Nugget Casino Michigan also includes 50 different table games, 15 live dealer games and six exclusive games.
The exclusive options including Golden Nugget Megaways, Golden Nugget Stepper, Golden Nugget Video Slot and Hyper Strike.
Golden Nugget also was the first from Michigan to jump into instant scratch games on their online casino. Foxin’ Wins Reveal and Gorilla Go Wild Reveal were the first Michigan online casino games to come under the “scratchers” option.
Sports betting not a high priority for Golden Nugget
As much as Golden Nugget has put into its online casino, it hasn’t worried too much about its fledgling platform among Michigan online sportsbooks.
September saw Golden Nugget finish last of the 14 online operators in terms of handle ($1.15 million) and revenue ($9,356).
They accounted for just 0.25% of the online handle market share in the state in September, a month that was a breakout one for Michigan’s sportsbooks collectively.
Through nine months of 2023, Golden Nugget has $10.6 million in handle. That is still a 29% jump from the first nine months of 2022 ($8.2 million). However, the revenue over the same period is down 60.1%. It’s just $299,734 for 2023 and was $751,045 through nine months of 2022.
So while there is more activity this year, it’s not leading to more revenue, which is the opposite of what we see collectively in the state this year. Overall, Michigan online sportsbooks are up 7.5% in revenue for 2023 despite being down 5.3% in handle.
