Thanks to saturation of casinos in the Keystone State, gambling revenues in Pennsylvania were up but 1%. That’s actually a 13% decline from 2019, to $279.5 million. A nice haul, to be sure. Smoke-free Parx Casino fell off 4.5% but led all comers with $45.5 million. The next-best competitor in the City of Brotherly Love market was Philadelphia Live, surging 16.5% to $22 million. Rivers Philadelphia continued to fade, down 5.5% to $18.5 million. Charmless Harrah’s Philadelphia (above) plunged 18% to $11 million, ceding fourth place to Valley Forge Resort with $11.5 million, up 10.5%.
Champion of outstate casinos was Wind Creek Bethlehem, jumping 13% to $43 million. In the Pittsburgh area, The Rivers ($27.5 million, -7%) and Meadows Hollywood ($15.5 million, -5%) continue to cede market share to newbie Pittsburgh Live ($10 million, +8%). Mohegan Pocono was up 4% to $17.5 million, while Mount Airy rose 3% to $15 million. Presque Isle Downs climbed 2% to $8.5 million, Hollywood Penn National slipped 7.5% to $13.5 million (the Hollywood retrofitting of Penn Entertainment‘s home-turf casinos hasn’t worked out as planned) and Hollywood York was up 4% to $8 million. Three small casinos were flat: Lady Luck Nemacolin ($1.5 million), Hollywood Morgantown (below, $5.5 million) and Parx Shippensburg ($3 million).
Internet casinos were good for another $185 million. They were dominated, to varying degrees, by Hollywood Casino ($77 million), FanDuel ($45 million) and BetRivers ($29 million). Sports betting yielded $50.5 million on handle of $662 million, not a great showing for the house. Promotional allowances wiped out $20 million of that gain, too. FanDuel walloped DraftKings, $25.5 million to $14 million. Fighting over the remainder were ESPN Bet ($3 million), BetRivers ($2.5 million) and BetMGM ($2.5 million). Parx came up short of $1 million and Caesars Sportsbook managed to lose money. It wasn’t a great month for the Roman Empire.
Internet gambling vaulted up north in Michigan, where players left $188 million on the cyber-green felt. BetMGM was predominant with $50 million, although FanDuel continues to close in, with $48.5 million. Not to be left out of the party was DraftKings with $41.5 million. Other i-casinos making respectable showings were BetRivers ($12 million) and Caesars Digital ($10.5 million), on aggregate handle of $403 million. It’s strange that Caesars doesn’t make a bigger online bang for its marketing bucks, given its brand name and cachet. Sports bettors coughed up $30.5 million but got $13 million back in freebies. FanDuel ($13.5 million) bested DraftKings ($10 million), which in turned skunked BetMGM ($3.5 million) and ESPN Bet ($2 million). Fanatics, BetRivers and Caesars Sportsbook managed to scrape together a bare million between them.
Gambling revenues nosed up a percentage point in Louisiana last month, although they’re still 2% behind where they were in 2019. Patrons came less (-4%) but spent more (+3%). The reversal of Louisiana’s recent slide is good and encouraging news, especially for a state so crowded with casinos. (Sports betting, it should be noted, grossed $31 million on handle of $253 million.) Unfortunately, the good news does not extend to Caesars Entertainment in Lake Charles, where the impact of Horseshoe Lake Charles has been thoroughly blunted, plunging 25.5% to a last-place $6 million. The only casino to gain revenue was Delta Downs, up 2.5% to $14 million. It would appear to have lured players not only from Horseshoe but L’Auberge du Lac ($24.5 million, -2.5%) and leader Golden Nugget ($25 million, -3%).
Caesars could take heart in its New Orleans performance. CEO Tom Reeg says the Caesars rebranding (in progress) of Harrah’s New Orleans is already paying off and the numbers sure don’t make a liar of out him. Harrah’s was up 10% to $24 million—Lake Charles-sized numbers. Boomtown New Orleans was up 2.5% to $10.5 million while Treasure Chest was flat at $7 million. Fair Grounds racino cantered more slowly ($3.5 million, -7%), Amelia Belle faded 2.5% ($2.5 million) and Evangeline Downs was down a point ($6 million). Meanwhile, what’s keeping Belle of Baton Rouge open? It sank 43% to a bottom-scraping 600 dimes. L’Auberge Baton Rouge ceded 2%, to $15 million, to newcomer Queen Casino, which catapulted 71% to $7 million. In the morass that is Shreveport/Bossier City, a point was gained by Margaritaville, to put it at $16.5 million and even farther in front of the competition. Best of the rest were Horseshoe Bossier ($10.5 million, -3%) and Bally’s Shreveport ($9.5 million, 1%). Area gamblers love them some smoke, surging to Sam’s Town ($3.5 million, +13%), although not as much to Boomtown Bossier ($4 million, -5.5%). Lousiana Downs was up 10% to $4 million, not doing too badly for itself since leaving the Caesars fold.
Jottings: In the Missouri Lege, the pound of flesh for sports betting continues to be the legalization of black-market slots. Their latest enlistee is state Sen. Crystal Quade (D), who is coupling the two in a new bill … Wynn Resorts and Related Cos. have pitched a $12 billion (!) megaresort for New York City‘s West Side, as seen above. (Good luck making the ROI on that.) The proposed development looks remarkably unremarkable … Lawmakers in Lithuania are fed up with gambling ads, so much so that they may ban them. Join the crowd … Prop bets in Minnesota? Forget it. Low tax rates? Nada. Welcome to the probable form of sports betting in Minnesota, if the Lege can ever bring itself to legalize it