Michigan’s three commercial casinos – MGM Grand, MotorCity Casino and Greektown Casino, all located in Detroit – brought in a combined $299.2m in revenue, down 59.3%, for the first six months of 2020 following closures due to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
All three casinos closed their doors on 16 March as the pandemic hit the US and have remained closed ever since, meaning the revenue was made in just over 40% of the half-year period, roughly corresponding to the amount of revenue lost.
Although Michigan has legalised online gaming and betting, the licensing process only opened earlier this month, and as yet no casino in the state offers an online product.
The casinos paid $24.2m in state gaming taxes to the state of Michigan and $35.6 million in wagering taxes and development agreement payments to the City of Detroit. Both of these figures were also down 59.3% year-on-year.
MGM Grand Detroit was the largest contributor to the state’s revenue figure, bringing in $126.5m. However, it also experienced the largest decline in revenue, at 59.8%.
MotorCity Casino followed with $102.6m, down 59.0%. Greekdown Casino, purchased by Penn National Gaming in 2019, took in $70.1m in revenue, down 58.7%.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board also reported that paid fantasy sports operators reported revenue of $3,564,620 and paid $299,428 in taxes to the state. The operators made $329,173 and paid state taxes of $27,651 in May.