Despite concerns that the casino market in the Northeast is in the precipice of reaching its saturation point, the four casinos in the state of Maryland are continuing to post strong revenue numbers, far exceeding what estimates from state officials. In the month of June alone, Maryland’s four casinos pulled in a strong $66.5 million in revenue, according to the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency.
For the just-concluded fiscal year that ended on June 30, the casinos were able to post an impressive yearly revenue total of $608.4 million, shooting past the $530 million number the state’s Board of Revenue Estimates projected.
The impressive returns generated by the four casinos is the latest indication of Maryland becoming a dynamic player in the regional casino scene, no small feat considering that Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, and even New York all have casinos in their respective borders. But a lot of people, it seems, have gravitated towards Maryland, particularly the year-old Maryland Live! Casino, which has firmly entrenched itself in the state as the highest earning of all the four casinos by a staggering margin.
Just in June, Maryland Live! accounted for $51.4 million of the state’s $66.5 million in revenue from slot machines and table games. That’s 77.2 percent of the total revenue the state earned for the month with the other three casinos – Hollywood Casino Perryville ($7.78 million), Casino at Ocean Downs ($4.8 million), and Rocky Gap Casino and Resort ($2.48 million) – making up the remaining 22.8 percent of the month’s revenue numbers.
A case can definitely be argued that Maryland Live! is doing all the heavy lifting with its performance being solely responsible for putting Maryland in the casino map. The numbers certainly back that up. It also helps that it’s located in an area with over 5,000 hotel rooms in the vicinity and is close to the Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
Everybody loves Maryland Live!, it seems, and there’s no better proof of that than the kind of revenue numbers its putting up relative to its competition in and out of state.
