Ohio casinos and racinos report record $216M revenue in March
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Casinos and racinos operating in Ohio took in $216 million in March, breaking a state record. The 11 venues brought in a total of $216.3 million in gambling revenue for the month, thus surpassing the $215.9 million mark posted in March 2021, according to monthly reports from the state’s regulators released last Thursday.
Breaking down data released by the Ohio Casino Control Commission and the Ohio Lottery shows that gaming revenues for the four licensed casinos in the Buckeye State hit $93.3 million, while the seven racinos delivered $122.9 million in gambling revenues. The combined $216.3 million in revenue is also above the $178.7 million delivered in February this year.
Ohio’s casinos and racinos have broken the yearly record nine out of the last 10 years, reports Cleveland.com. The only year they didn’t was 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions. Before the pandemic, the record for March was $184.2 million, set in 2019.
In terms of statewide casino revenue, most corresponded to slot revenue ($65 million), while table revenue was $28.3 million. JACK Cleveland Casino placed first among all venues, at $24.5 million, followed by Hollywood Columbus ($23.4 million), Hard Rock Cincinnati ($22.9 million) and Hollywood Toledo ($22.5 million). Both JACK Cleveland and Hard Rock Cincinnati posted revenue up from March 2021, while Hollywood Toledo and Hollywood Columbus experienced minor drops.
Racinos posted statewide revenue of $123 million, slightly below the $124.2 million delivered in March 2021. MGM Northfield Park placed first at $26.1 million in revenue (above $25.3 million the prior year), followed by Eldorado Scioto Downs ($21.7 million) and Miami Valley Gaming ($20.3 million).
Meanwhile, JACK Thistledown Racino delivered $17.5 million in revenue, while Hollywood Mahoning Valley posted $14.4 million, Hollywood Dayton took in $14.3 million, and Belterra Park posted $8.6 million.
Cleveland-based gaming and hospitality company JACK Entertainment, which placed first among casinos with its JACK Cleveland Casino venue, announced last week the launch of its betJACK online and mobile sportsbook. However, in anticipation of Ohio’s sports gaming market launch, the platform has made its debut as a free-to-play book: customers can bet on sporting events, but only with free tokens and no money involved.
The product is set to allow Ohio bettors to practice for free while the Buckeye State finalizes the launch of its real-money sports betting market. The launch is still planned for late 2022, with the state on pace to commence sports gaming before January 1, 2023, as mandated by the sports bill approved in December last year.
The Ohio Casino Control Commission unanimously approved a second round of sports betting rules in March. The set of rules -there will be a total of five rounds- lay out details for type A and type B licenses and license fees. They were subsequently filed with the Ohio CSI after a commission meeting ended.
