Detroit Casinos See Best Month in Four Years as March Revenue Hits $122.26 Million

The Michigan Gaming Control Board has revealed details of revenue generated by Detroit retail casinos in March. Combined revenue from all three retail casinos amounted to $123.86 million.

Based on the information made available by the MGCB, $1.6 million was generated from retail sports betting while $122.26 million was generated from table games and slots.

This is a significant achievement because March 2024’s revenue is the best one all three Detroit casinos have had in the last four years. It marks a 17% increase over February 2024’s revenue of $104.8 million and a 3.6% year-on-year increase compared to March 2023.

The three Detroit casinos recorded growth in their revenue even as they posted their best monthly gambling revenue numbers since December 2019. MGM Grand Detroit continues to lead the pack with a 46% market share followed by MotorCity and Hollywood Casino at Greektown with 31% and 23% market share respectively.

The individual performance of each retail casino is described below:

MGM Grand Detroit: The leading Detroit retail casino generated $56.7 million in March. This figure is a 15% increase from the $49.3 million it generated in February and 27% jump from $44.6 million generated in January.

MotorCity Casino: Coming up in second place, the casino generated $38.4 million in March, up 21.5% from $31.6 million in February and up 41.7% from $27.1 million in January.

Hollywood Casino at Greektown: Generated $27.3 million in the same month. The figure marks a 15% increase from February 2024’s $23.8 million in revenue and a 23% increase compared to January 2024’s $22.2 million in revenue.

Together, the casinos generated $122.26 million in the third month of 2024. March is always the best month for Michigan gambling revenue, especially retail casinos, yearly. In March 2019, the retail casinos set a record as the best performing month in the almost three decades since Detroit casinos existed. They generated a combined revenue of $140.4 million.

For the month of March, the state earned $9.9 million in revenue from wagering tax while the City of Detroit earned 14.5 million in wagering tax revenue.

The average revenue for the first quarter of 2024 stands at almost $107 million despite March’s revenue. The first month of 2024 was generally less intense as the casinos battled lingering effects of workers’ strike. For six weeks, workers went on strike and almost crippled all activities near the end of 2023.

Since 2020, the average revenue of the first three months of each year has remained below $110 million. Below are the Q1 average revenue in recent years:

2024: $106,975,584

2023: $108,720,417

2022: $105,163,852

2021: $94,702,919

2020: $99,741,867

The revenue of the first three months in 2020 and 2021 were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

 Retail sports betting in Michigan was not left out in March as the three Detroit casinos reported significant improvements in profit. This can be attributed to March Madness betting, one of the biggest sports betting events of the year.

However, in March, retail sportsbooks at the three casinos took in a collective handle of $17.2 million. This is a 30% jump from February’s total of $13.2 million. However, March’s handle was 29% less than January 2024’s handle of $24.2 million because of the NFL.

The retail sportsbooks generated nearly $1.6 million revenue in March 2024. This is a 14% climb from March 2023’s adjusted gross receipts of more than $1.4 million. Hollywood Casino at Greektown earned $731,389 on $9.6 million in wagers while MotorCity Casino earned $538,988 on $4 million in wagers. MGM Grand Detroit: came in third place by earning $327,857 on $3.7 million in wagers.

March 2024’s performance is a relief for the retail sportsbooks at Detroit casinos. The retail sportsbooks had posted a collective loss of $120,142 in February 2024. They paid about $60,413 in gaming taxes to the state and $73,838 to the City of Detroit.