Figures released Tuesday by the Michigan Gaming Control Board show Detroit’s three casinos generated combined gaming revenue of $1.454b in 2019, beating the previous record of $1.44b set just one year earlier. The three casinos closed out the year by posting revenue of $127.8m in December, up a mere 0.3% from the same month last year.
MGM Resorts’ MGM Grand Detroit enjoyed a property revenue record in 2019 with $623.5m, up 0.7% from 2018, its previous high-water mark. The privately held MotorCity Casino enjoyed its own record-setting performance last year with revenue of $493.6m, up 0.8% from 2018.
Greektown, which is owned by a combination of Penn National Gaming and VICI Properties, saw its 2019 haul rise 0.6% year-on-year to $337.2m, although this failed to eclipse Greektown’s previous best of $352.8m set way back in 2011.
Detroit’s casinos and the state’s tribal gaming venues have been busy prepping for their new online gambling and sports betting options, which became a possibility five days before Christmas when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the necessary legislation into law.
This month has already seen a flurry of gaming technology partnership signings and last week saw Scientific Games Corp ink a sports betting and online casino pact with the FireKeepers Casino Hotel in Battle Creek. (The parties aren’t strangers, having struck a free-play social gaming partnership five years ago.) Sci-Games is currently focused on ensuring a swift retail betting launch before embarking on the more technically demanding online options.
Michigan’s bettors are keen for a retail betting launch in time for this spring’s NCAA March Madness basketball tournament but it remains to be seen whether that timeline proves realistic. Regardless, crafting unique rules for online/mobile betting and online casino and poker means those products might not make their official debut until early 2021.