Led by Hollywood Casino Toledo — which obliterated state records for gaming revenue — July was an excellent month revenue-wise for most of Ohio’s casinos and racinos, which welcomed back gamblers who returned in large numbers to play the slots and other games of chance.
July marked the first full month that Ohio’s gaming venues were operating following their reopening on June 19 after orders from the office of Gov. Mike DeWine closed the establishments on March 14.
Gamblers flocked to the Toledo casino, which hit the jackpot for a single month of revenue.
Hollywood Casino Toledo’s July revenue totaled $33,316,109 — the highest monthly total ever for any of the four state-approved casinos that began operating in mid-2012. The Toledo casino’s previous highest revenue total was $20,444,071 in June, 2012. The figure only includes revenue from gaming, not food or beverage sales.
A year ago the Toledo casino took in $16,801,816, or about half of what it tallied last month. The highest total ever by an Ohio casino was $26,115,771 by the former Horseshoe Cleveland Casino in June, 2012. The casino is now known as the Jack Cleveland Casino and operated by Jack Entertainment.
Justin Carter, the general manager of Hollywood Casino Toledo, did not return calls seeking comment.
However, Jessica Franks, a spokesman for the Ohio Casino Control Commission, which issues monthly casino revenue reports, said state officials now believe the Toledo casino’s numbers in July were heavily influenced by out-of-state gamblers.
The three Detroit area casinos — MotorCity Casino Hotel, Greektown Casino-Hotel, and MGM Grand Detroit — all have been closed since March. They only reopened last week with the MGM Grand the last to open on Friday.
The only other gambling options for Michigan residents are the state’s 26 tribal casinos, none of which are as close to Detroit as Hollywood Casino Toledo.
“As best we can figure, Detroit’s three casinos have been closed until last week. And with the proximity of the Toledo casino to the Detroit area, we think a lot of those folks in Detroit came down to Toledo for gaming,” Ms. Franks said.
“It’ll be interesting to see what happens now that the Detroit casinos have reopened. We’re kind of curious as to what happens next month,” she said.
“But it was a record for Toledo, their largest monthly take ever and the largest take for any Ohio property since 2012,” Ms. Franks said, adding that the Toledo casino took in $33 million despite a reduced number of slot machines and closing its poker room to comply with health guidelines.
“So the fact that their revenues were what they were for the month even with all those restrictions, made it very interesting. And it will be even more interesting to see what they do next month, given that situation change in Detroit,” she added.
Statewide, the four casinos produced $86,047,151, a 22 percent increase over July of last year when total gaming revenue was $70,361,639.
Jack Cleveland Casino had revenue of $18,112,037, compared to $17,146,199 a year ago. Hollywood Casino Columbus’ revenue was $18,098,935, compared to $18,939,319 a year ago, and Hard Rock Cincinnati Casino had revenue of $16,520,070, compared to $17,474,305 a year ago.
Revenues at the state’s seven racinos, which are overseen by the Ohio Lottery Commission, totaled $95,020,535 in July, which compared to $91,865,116 in July, 2019.
First Published August 10, 2020, 10:21 p.m.
