Detroit’s three casinos have reported a monthly aggregate gaming revenue (AGR) of $82.8m for the month of October, down from $102.8m in October of 2022. This is undoubtedly linked to the ongoing strikes by Detroit’s union workers and casino employees.
There was also recently a call to boycott the casinos’ associated iGaming apps, websites and online sportsbooks.
The city’s casino AGR also dropped slightly in the month of September by 1.7%, though the state of Michigan’s iGaming revenue was up 30% year-on-year in the same month. The strikes began in October but the Detroit Casino Council discussed a vote for strike action in late September.
This decrease represents the largest revenue in six months and individually affected the three casinos’ gaming revenue negatively. MGM Grand was down 19.6% annually to $37.3m, MotorCity was down 22.8% to $25m and Hollywood Casino at Greektown was down 11.7% to $19.4m.
MGM Grand holds 46% of Detroit’s market share, while MotorCity holds 31% and Hollywood Casino at Greektown holds 23%. These numbers are fairly consistent with last month’s market shares, as well as with October 2022’s, with the percentages fluctuating by a few numbers each.
Table game and slot revenue dropped 18.9% year-on-year in October, and also experienced an overall decrease during January 1 to September 30 2023 of 1.3%, compared to the same nine-month period last year.
Retail sports betting qualified adjusted gross revenue (QAGR) suffered the most in terms of percentages, with a 46.3% drop annually and a 28.6% decrease from the previous month’s QAGR to $1.1m. But this reveue total still paled in comparison to overall gaming. Retail sports betting handle for the month reached $18.1m.
Detroit’s casinos paid $10.1m in wagering taxes to the city based on casino AGR, as well as $42,531 in gaming taxes to the state and $51,982 in wagering taxes to the city based on retail sports betting QAGR.
With the ‘Big Three’ Las Vegas Operators recently finalizing negotiations right before their own culinary union employees went on strike, is it time for Detroit's casinos to have a serious talk with its unions?
