March was an absolute banner month for the Ohio game industry.
In their first full month since resuming full hours of operation, Ohio’s four casinos and seven Racinos not only broke state revenue records together, but set those marks by a wide margin.
Although social distancing guidelines require casinos to have a total of 324 tables operational – that number peaked at 413 before the coronavirus pandemic brought the entire U.S. casino industry to a standstill in 2020 – the casinos in Ohio scored March total sales of $ 91,638,984. That was more than $ 5 million more than the record of $ 86.047 million since July 2020.
That $ 90 million barrier is all the more notable given that Ohio casinos have had revenue of more than $ 80 million for just three months since they opened in 2012. And of course, that news comes a year after coronavirus-related measures shut down the casino industry across the country.
Hollywood Columbus led the way with $ 24.8 million in revenue in March, a record for the casino, followed by Hollywood Toledo ($ 23.9 million), JACK Cleveland ($ 22.2 million) and Hard Rock Cincinnati ($ 20.7 million).
Ohio Racinos Break Record Sales Of $ 20M
Buckeye State’s racinos (slot machines on racetracks) set numbers that were perhaps even more impressive than the casinos.
Combined net income of $ 124,217,750 for March at the Racinos in Ohio – Belterra Park in Cincinnati, Eldorado Gaming Scioto Downs in Columbus, MGM Northfield, Hollywood Gaming Dayton, Hollywood Mahoning Valley in Youngstown, JACK Thistledown in Cleveland and Miami Valley Gaming in Lebanon – broke the monthly record by more than $ 20 million. In March 2019, they had sales of $ 103.1 million. This was the only other month in history that they exceeded $ 100 million.
Not only was revenue a record, but also played (or handled) loans of $ 1.3 billion, slightly surpassing the $ 1.117 billion also recorded in March 2019.
Of course, Ohio’s total sales of $ 215.8 million for March were also a state record. It was a whopping 36% better than February’s $ 158.7 million.
Full operating hours return after curfew
On February 11th, Ohio governor Mike DeWine ended the month-long curfew on casinos (among others). Cleveland.com reported. The gaming facilities were reopened for 24/7 operation, and March was the first full month they could do so. Ohio casinos and racinos had fewer hours as of November, a measure designed to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The coronavirus pandemic that closed Ohio casinos 12 months ago meant a tremendous lack of government revenue.
According to the Ohio Casino Control Commission, casino revenue for the 2020 calendar year was $ 643.4 million, a 24.4% decrease from the $ 851 million recorded in 2019 Lottery revenue for 2019-20 was $ 820.9 million, 22.5% less than 2018-19 when it was $ 1.059 billion.
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