Detroit casinos report nearly $109.7 million in May revenue

Detroit's casinos brought in nearly $109.7 million in aggregate revenue while operating at limited capacity in May, according to numbers released Tuesday by the Michigan Gaming Control Board.

That's about even with April's results, when the three venues netted nearly $109 million in revenue. Last May, the casinos were closed under health restrictions tied to the coronavirus pandemic and thus did not generate any revenue.

Table games and slots generated about $107.9 million of the total revenue while retail sports betting, which became legal last year, generated $1.75 million. Monthly revenue from internet gambling and sports betting, which launched in January, will be released separately by the state later this month.

By comparison, the casinos reported $125.8 million in aggregate revenue from slots and table games in May 2019, when they were operating at full capacity. In a signal that casinos are mounting a solid recovery from the pandemic, last month's table games and slots results were off from that amount by less than 15%, even though capacity limits were in place.

For the month, MGM Grand Detroit led the pack with market share of 42%, followed by MotorCity Casino Hotel with 36% and Greektown Casino with 22%.

MGM Grand brought in about $46.2 million in gaming revenue last month. MotorCity reported nearly $38.2 million. And Greektown netted $23.6 million.

Collectively, the casinos paid $8.7 million in gaming taxes to the state last month and submitted $12.8 million in wagering taxes and development agreement payments to the city.

The venues reported a total retail sports betting handle — the total amount wagered — of nearly $20.2 million last month. Total gross receipts were more than $1.7 million. 

MGM reported qualified gross receipts — which subtract the monetary value of free play incentives bettors got — tied to retail sports betting of $402,223, while MotorCity reported $709,796 and Greektown reported $636,547.

Together they paid $66,096 in retail sports betting taxes to the state and $80,784 to the city.

jgrzelewski@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @JGrzelewski