The Maryland Lottery and Gaming just released the revenue report from the month of January and casinos in the state had a very slow start to the year. That report was extremely shocking based on the fact that the finish to 2023 produced nearly record highs in revenue.
It was expected that the revenue in January would not be able to compete with the December total, but the year-over-year numbers were down as well. Total revenue for the month was still at $153.2 million, but that was a decrease of more than $14 million from the January 2023 totals.
The casino industry throughout the United States is expected to continue to grow and post big numbers in 2024, but that wasn’t the case in Maryland. This doesn’t mean that all of the six casino properties in the state were hit hard, but that was the overall theme when looking at the total numbers.
Rocky Gap Casino Hit Hard
Every casino in the state of Maryland saw a year-over-year decrease in revenue compared to 2023, but some saw a loss that was extremely small. The Rocky Gap Casino saw the biggest percentage decrease compared to the 2023 numbers as the total revenue fell by over 36 percent.
Rocky Gap Casino posted a revenue of just $3.1 million last month, and it is easily the casino that is least popular in the state. The Horseshoe Casino Baltimore posted a revenue of $14.5 million, but it actually saw a more significant loss in terms of dollars.
The Live! Casino & Hotel finished the month with a total revenue of over $56.7 million, and that was good enough for second place in this department. Patrons continued to visit the location as normal as the revenue decrease was just 2.5%.
The MGM National Harbor was once again the most popular casino in the state, and that is nothing new when checking out these reports every month. That location posted a total revenue of more than $66 million in January, but it also saw a slight decrease from 12 months earlier.
Slots Continue to Generate Numbers
While every person is visiting a casino to play their own favorite game, the slot machines continue to be the most popular options. Total revenue from the slots machines nearly hit $100 million last month, and two casinos have more options than the rest combined.
The MGM National Harbor and Live! Casino & Hotel combined for more than $75 million in total slot revenue in January, and those two casinos have over 6,000 slots to choose from. When breaking down the numbers even further, the MGM National Harbor Casino earned over $16,400 per slot machine.
Part of the reason that the Rocky Gap Casino posts such low revenue numbers is due to the fact that it has just 616 slot machines available. Many of the casinos in Maryland share a supplier of slot machines, but the bigger properties continue to have more options.
