Ohio strong, Maryland stable, Illinois stinks

As for the other racinos, Boyd Gaming suffered a setback at Belterra Park, down 3% to $7 million, while Churchill Downs was off 5% at Miami Valley Gaming ($14.5 million). Scioto Downs gained 8.5% to $17.5 million, Hollywood Dayton posted $11 million, an 8.4% bump, as did Hollywood Mahoning Valley, whose $11 million represented a 1.5% upward nudge. Time to break out the bubbly at Penn headquarters.

Had there been a tenth weekend day, Maryland might have equaled last year’s takings. As things stand, it dipped 3% to $149.5 million. Market leader (40%) MGM National Harbor was off 4% to $60 million, with slots down 6% and (low-taxed) table games only 2% off the pace. Runner-up Maryland Live ceded a percentage point to gross $52.5 million. Horseshoe Baltimore slipped 8% to $17 million and a distant third place, while Ocean Downs tumbled 13.5% to $7.5 million. By contrast, Hollywood Perryville hopped 6% to $7 million and, out west, Rocky Gap Resort leapt 15% to $6 million.

What to say about Illinois? No number of extra weekend days could have helped it, as gambling revenues toppled 26% to a feeble $87.5 million. The brightest spot was Harrah’s Metropolis, down only 10% to $6 million. Even Rivers Casinos Des Plaines slid 13%, albeit to $37.5 million. Second place went to Harrah’s Joliet (pictured), down 23% to $11.5 million. Other dismal numbers were recorded by Empress Joliet (-38%, $10 million), Hollywood Aurora (-35.5%, $6.5 million), Grand Victoria ($10 million, -30.5%), Par-A-Dice ($4 million, -30%) and Casino Queen ($5 million, -39%). Special prizes for underachievement go to Argosy Belle (-46%, $2 million) and Jumer’s Casino Rock Island (-50%, $3 million). And to think that Illinois is in the process of adding multiple new casinos, including maybe one in Chicago. Who needs it?

Staying in Illinois, we don’t know how to feel about the news that the sacred confines of Wrigley Field are to be augmented with a DraftKings sports book. The latter is paying $100 million for the concession and threatens “the biggest retail sportsbook in the country right in the heart of Wrigley, with an unrivaled experience, food and beverage, and the ability of a fan to go there pregame, make bets, go to the game and sweat and come back and cash their tickets on the way out.” So how much of the beloved baseball park is going to have to be gutted for “the biggest retail sportsbook” in the U.S.—presumably even larger than Circa‘s, which is going some? Mind you, the City of Chicago needs to approve the book and DraftKings doesn’t have an Illinois gaming license, so we’re not talking a done deal … yet. So what does Cubs Nation think of having their spectator experience potentially subordinated to sports betting?

Switching sports, the American Gaming Association estimates that 33 million Americans will wager on the NFL this season, with 20% using legal platforms but 34% doing so online, often at illegal sites. And six million (+50%) will patronize Lefty in the back alley. We hope they have good medical insurance. DFS and its ilk are losing their luster—as we expected they would—projected to be down 31%. Who needs to bet on fantasy teams in places where you have the real item? Sports bettors (54% of those surveyed) are anticipated to be more excited about NFL games than even the core fan base (41%). Among those polled, 42% had less enthusiasm about 2020-1, mainly because of “Political activism around the league” (a nice way of saying they don’t like Black people speaking out), followed by the absence of fans in the stands (19%) and the inability to hold game-watching parties (17%).

The heaviest volume of futures bets on the Super Bowl (13%) is—no surprise—the Kansas City Chiefs, followed by the Dallas Cowboys (9%). Five percent are actually betting on the Cincinnati Bengals to win it all, proving that hope springs eternal. AGA President Bill Miller says bettors make “more engaged fans” … but if you need to have money on the game in order to care about the outcome that doesn’t say much for your fandom, does it?

For a state that approved sports betting by only the very slimmest of margins, Colorado has been gangbusters. Regulators and operators took a magpie approach, choosing from among the best practices of other betting-friendly states. The former also had the foresight to allow online subscription (unlike, say, Illinois), which proved mighty handy when the nascent industry ran into a little thing called Coronavirus, keeping punters at home. “We started with four operators on day one, and now we have 10,” Colorado Division of Gaming Director Dan Hartman told Global Gaming Business. “Obviously sports betting has tapped into a market with four of the major sports. It’s a market that enjoys its sports, and that’s a heck of a way to start.”

The state was initially sustained by the likes of Italian baseball and the Bundesliga, but with more major-league sports coming online, Colorado is poised to roar into NFL season. Now that physical sports books are safe again, Monarch Casino Black Hawk may be the pace car. “Unlike most casino operators, we have our own in-house risk management team. This allows us to not only provide a better guest experience, but offer betters the best lines. It also means we’re the only sportsbook in Colorado where you can earn comps at our resort while betting on sports,” says COO David Farahi. Also in there slugging is Circa Sports, with three footholds. Circa exec Mike Van Ermen thinks the Rocky Mountain State is the new template for legal sports wagering: “That’s how the industry learns. As long as each state learns from the previous states, this industry will flourish on very short notice.” We hope so.