MGM Resorts’ National Harbor casino in Maryland came close but fell just shy of matching its all-time gaming revenue record in October.
Figures released Monday by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming agency show the state’s six licensed casino operators generated gaming revenue of $133.2m, up nearly 40% from the same month last year.
As ever, we need to point out that National Harbor didn’t open until December 2016, and the five casinos that were open in both Octobers reported a year-on-year revenue decline of nearly 15%. (Just think, kids, only two more months until we can report these revenue figures without caveats.)
National Harbor earned just under $52m in October, easily enough to top the state’s revenue chart but shy of the property’s all-time revenue record of $52.9m set in August. MGM’s revenue managed a rough split of $24.8m from its gaming tables and $27.1m from its slots.
The state’s former revenue champ but now perennial runner-up, Cordish Co’s Live! Casino, earned $45.8m in October, down nearly 14% year-on-year. Table games were down 17.5% to $16.5m while slots fell nearly 12% to $29.3m.
The Live! Casino is frantically trying to gussy up its offering to compete with the state’s shiny new entrant, including building a new $200m, 17-story, 310-room hotel that will also include a sizeable entertainment venue for hosting live shows. The hotel, which had its ‘topping-off’ ceremony in October, is expected to open to the public in the spring.
Caesars Entertainment’s Horseshoe Casino Baltimore posted the month’s biggest year-on-year revenue decline, falling a whopping 26.5% to $19.6m. Slots revenue held up fairly well, falling 10% to $12.4m but table games either suffered a major dip in table drop or win percentage or both, as table revenue fell by nearly half to just $7.15m.
The state’s also-rans had a mixed October, with Hollywood Casino Perryville’s revenue falling 0.7% to $5.9m, Ocean Downs rising 7.2% to $5.3m and Rocky Gap falling 1.6% to $4.6m.
