Commercial casinos in Detroit, Michigan, generated $105,548 in retail sports wagering revenue during the few days legal betting in March, before sporting events and casino closures halted activity.
Michigan’s regulated sports betting market only opened on March 11, but was forced to close days later on March 16 after all casinos in the state were ordered to temporarily shut as part of measures to combat the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19).
Consumers in the state were also limited as to what sports they could place bets on, with almost all major events being cancelled due to the pandemic.
The MGM Grand Detroit posted $84,695 in sports betting revenue for the short period of regulated wagering activities in the state. Penn National’s Greektown Casino followed with $15,904 in revenue, then MotorCity Casino on $4,949.
Michigan’s wider gambling market was also hit by the enforced closures, with the three casinos seeing revenue decline by 59.1% on a year-on-year basis.
Revenue from the three casinos amounted to $57.4m in March, which was also down 52.8% on a month-on-month basis from $121.7m in February of this year.
MGM Grand Detroit retained its position as the market-leader in March, posting $23.9m in revenue, though this was down 59.6% from the same month last year.
MotorCity Casino followed in second with $20.3m in total revenue, representing a year-on-year drop of 58.7%. Meanwhile, revenue at the Greektown Casino in March fell 58.7% year-on-year to $13.2m.
The three casinos paid $6.8m in gaming taxes and development agreement fees to the City of Detroit during March. In addition, casinos paid $3,990 in State of Michigan retail sports betting taxes, as well as $4,876 in sports wagering taxes to the City of Detroit.
For the first quarter of 2019, comprising the three months to the end of March, total revenue at the three casinos amounted to $299.2m, down 18.5% from the same point last year.
MGM Grand Detroit led the market with $126.5m in revenue, down 19.7% from March 2019. MotorCity Casino also saw revenue fall 18.0% to $102.6m, while revenue at Greektown Casino dropped 16.7% to $70.1m.