Maryland Casinos Win Nearly $180M in May, State Industry’s Second-Best Month

Posted on: June 7, 2022, 10:14h. 

Last updated on: June 7, 2022, 10:23h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More

Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Maryland casinos reported gross gaming revenue (GGR) last month of $178.76 million. The haul represents the second-best month on record. Maryland’s first casino opened in September 2010.

May 2022 represented a 3.7% improvement on May 2021, and 17.4% better than the approximately $152.3 million the six commercial casinos won in pre-pandemic May 2019.

The $178.7 million May ’22 win trails only July 2021, when the casinos pulled in a record $180 million from gamblers.

The industry momentum seems to threaten the July benchmark. With pandemic concerns greatly easing, and sports betting now live at five of the brick-and-mortar properties, the state gaming market is positioned well for a successful — and possibly unprecedented — summer.

MGM, Live! Dominate

MGM National Harbor and Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland continue to maintain their market dominance in the Old Line State. The MGM Resorts casino outside DC won almost $76 million from its patrons last month. The Cordish Companies’ flagship gaming property kept $62.7 million of the bets wagered.

Maryland’s three resort-style casinos — Ocean Downs in Berlin, Hollywood Casino Perryville, and Rocky Gap Resort — won the remaining $22.4 million.

May had a favorable year-over-year comparison, as the casinos remained limited to operating at 50% capacity during May 2021. The state and host cities, however, allowed the gaming properties to return to operating at their full fire code capacities by June.

Horseshoe’s struggles continued in May ’22, as the Baltimore property saw GGR decline more than 9% from May 2021. Though MGM National Harbor and Live! Maryland are seeing visitor numbers increase as the summer months arrive, the downtown Baltimore casino’s location is in an undesirable part of Charm City.

Caesars is spending heavily to improve and revitalize the corridor between its Horseshoe property and the nearby NFL and MLB professional sports venues M&T Bank Stadium and Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Sports Betting Update

Maryland sports betting went live at each casino sans Rocky Gap in December. But the expanded gaming isn’t expected to provide substantial gaming and associated tax revenue until online operations are permitted to begin.

The path to authorizing mobile sportsbooks in Maryland is complex because of the law’s minority requirement that allows certain small businesses to seek entry into the online wagering market. The Maryland Sports Wagering and Application Review Committee (SWARC) continues to await the results of its commissioned disparity study that will assist the agency in determining which applicants are awarded mobile sports betting privileges.

“The bill expresses the intent of the General Assembly that the sports wagering program is to be implemented in a manner that, to the extent permitted by law, maximizes the ability of minorities, women, and minority and women-owned businesses to participate in the sports wagering industry, including through the ownership of licensed sports wagering entities under the bill,” a recent note from the agency explained.