Casinos in the commonwealth of Massachusetts eked out a 1.5% increase in gambling revenue last month. Encore Boston Harbor led with $60 million, flat with June 2024. MGM Springfield hopped four percent to $23 million, possibly helped by scads of headlines about jackpots in Springfield. (Well played, MGM publicity.) Plainridge Park gained 6%, finishing with $14.5 million.
Sports books in the Bay State held at a tight 12%, for a gross of $63.5 million. Handle was $532.5 million. DraftKings captured $32 million, easily besting FanDuel‘s $18 million. Also in the hunt were BetMGM ($5 million), Fanatics ($4.5 million), ESPN Bet ($1.5 million) and Caesars Sportsbook ($1 million). BallyBet made not a ripple.
By contrast, casinos in Pennsylvania were flat year/year, grossing $276.5 million. No surprise, no-smoking Parx Casino was tops with $46 million (up 2.5%). Wind Creek Bethlehem faded 5% but was still close behind with $45 million. As for the Philadelphia market aside from Parx, Valley Forge Resort gained 4% to $11 million, just ahead of who-cares Harrah’s Philadelphia ($10.5 million, flat), pictured above. Rivers Philadelphia was up 6.5% to $17.5 million but still couldn’t catch Philadelphia Live ($21 million, 4%). Over in Pittsburgh, cloacal Rivers Pittsburgh faded 5% but still booked $25.5 million. Hollywood Meadows slid 7.5% to $16 million while Pittsburgh Live slumped 5% to $9 million in a market that arguably had no winners.
The Keystone State’s standout performer was little Lady Luck Nemacolin, surging 16.5% to $2.5 million. Mohegan Pocono was up 2% to $16.5 million, as Presque Isle Downs was down 4% to $8 million and Mount Airy Resort hopped 6% to $17 million (so pay your dealers a fair wage, OK?). Hollywood Penn National was up 2% to $13 million and Hollywood York leapt 11% to $8.5 million. Conversely, Hollywood Morgantown dropped 9.5% to $5.5 million and Parx Shippensburg gained 4% to $3 million.
iGaming was a boffo $212.5 million, leaping 32%. FanDuel was out front with a 28% revenue share and Hollywood Casino lagged with lackluster 4%. In between were DraftKings (21%), BetRivers (16.5%), BetMGM (15%) and Caesars Palace Online (5%). Sports betting revenue catapulted 56% to $65 million on only 4% greater handle. FanDuel dusted DraftKings, $28 million to $18 million. ESPN Bet bested Caesars Sportsbook ($2.5 million vs. $1 million), and PointsBet ($5.5 million) squeezed past BetMGM ($4.5 million).
Sticking with the lucrative field of iGaming, it was also big for Michigan, where it surged 31% to $240.5 million. FanDuel narrowly prevailed over BetMGM for revenue share, 26% to 25%, while DraftKings contented itself with 16%. (Amazing how so many people would opt for “casino” operator—FanDuel—that operates nary a casino.) Hollywood Casino had but 3% and Caesars Palace Online 7.5%. Sports betting held at an insane 14.5%, meaning that handle of $302.5 million translated into revenue of $44.5 million. FanDuel clobbered DraftKings, $18.5 million to $13 million. BetMGM made do with $5.5 million, PointsBet $4 million, ESPN Bet $1.5 million and Caesars Sportsbook $1 million. The Caesars folks talk big about their online product but the numbers don’t bear it out.
Not to be forgotten, Detroit‘s private-sector casinos combined for $100.5 million, a 4% dip. MGM Grand Detroit, where guests go to be beaten up, was flat at $48.5 million. Motor City slipped 2.5% to $30.5 million and Hollywood Greektown, for which we had high hopes, plunged 12.5% to $21 million.
On a same-store basis, casinos in Louisiana have finally broken out of their long slump, posting numbers that are flat with last year’s. Pelican State casinos recorded a $209 million haul, 6% up when expansion is not taken into account. Perhaps due to heavy promotional activity (no other explanation seems rational), Horseshoe Bossier City moonshot itself 61.5% to $10.5 million and into close contention with new Louisiana Live ($11.5 million). Longtime leader Margaritaville slid 11% but retained Bossier City/Shreveport supremacy with $14.5 million. Everyone else was in dire shape: Boomtown Bossier $3.5 million (-18.5%), Sam’s Town Shreveport $3 million (-23%), Bally’s Shreveport $7.5 million (-20%) and Louisiana Downs $3 million (-17%).
Baton Rouge was about as positive as Bossier City/Shreveport was gloomy. Decrepit Belle of Baton Rouge vaulted 43% to $900,000 and nearby Queen Casino jumped 19% to $9 million. L’Auberge Baton Rouge stayed on top with $15 million but slipped 2%. In the Crescent City, Caesars New Orleans finally showed signs of stealing Treasure Chest‘s thunder. The Caesars Entertainment property leapt 34% to $20.5 million to Treasure Chest’s $13.5 million (2.5% up). Boomtown New Orleans slipped 3.5% to $9.5 million and Fair Grounds slid 6.5% to $3.5 million.
Let’s not forget lucrative Lake Charles, where the seesaw battle for first place went to L’Auberge du Lac, flat but good for $27 million. Arch rival Golden Nugget tumbled 14.5% to $24 million. Delta Downs ceded a point to reach $14 million while Horseshoe Lake Charles gained 4% but was looking up at everybody else from $8 million. The two Boyd Gaming outliers lost ground. Amelia Belle faded 7.5% to $2.5 million and Evangeline Downs was down 5% to $6 million.