Maryland Casinos Win $1.98B in 2023, Retail Gaming Revenue Slides 3%

Posted on: January 7, 2024, 04:34h. 

Last updated on: January 8, 2024, 10:24h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Maryland casinos won approximately $1.98 billion in 2023, a 3.3% decline from 2022. The year-over-year difference equates to the six commercial casinos collectively winning about $68.5 million fewer gaming dollars than they did in the prior year.

Maryland casinos gaming revenue
MGM National Harbor led the Maryland casino industry in 2023 for a seventh consecutive year. Statewide gaming revenue, however, declined more than 3% from 2022. (Image: Visit Maryland)

MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland in Hanover, Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, Ocean Downs in Berlin, Hollywood Casino Perryville, and Rock Gap in Flintstone won $165.5 million in December to cap off the year. The gross gaming revenue (GGR) includes gaming win from the casinos’ physical slot machines and table games. It doesn’t include sports betting.

December’s GGR was a marginal 0.3% improvement from December 2022. State gaming taxes earmarked for the Education Trust Fund totaled more than $50.6 million during the month.

2023 Downfall

2023 marked the end of the Maryland casino industry’s COVID-19 comeback. After two strong years of gaming recovery, in-person gaming slowed last year in the Old Line State.

MGM’s integrated resort outside D.C. across the Potomac River — the richest casino in the U.S. outside of Las Vegas — continued its Maryland dominance. MGM National Harbor won $485.3 million on its 2,266 slots last year, and added $348.8 million on its 207 table games, for a combined GGR of $834.1 million.

MGM’s 2023 win, however, represented a nearly 6% year-over-year loss. Table games were most responsible, as National Harbor in 2022 won almost $407.5 million on the felt.

Live! Casino near BWI airport again came in second. The casino’s 3,849 slots won $502.5 million last year, and its 179 table games added $207.4 million, for a combined win of roughly $709.9 million. The 2023 win represented a 0.6% gain from 2022.

Despite considerable investments made by Caesars Entertainment in the area surrounding its Horseshoe in Baltimore near the city’s professional sports stadiums — including the opening of an outdoor Topgolf attraction — the casino continued its struggles last year. Horseshoe GGR fell below $200 million to just $192.4 million, down more than 8% from 2022, when the casino won $209.8 million.

Maryland’s three resort-style casinos won $216.8 million on their slots and $29.5 million on their tables, for win of approximately $246.3 million. The three properties, which as of December collectively operated 2,170 slots and 57 tables, saw gaming decline 2% from 2022.

Sports Betting Premium

Though legacy play dwindled at the six brick-and-mortar casinos in 2023, those losses were easily offset by internet sports betting. Online sportsbooks began taking bets in November 2022, nearly a year after in-person sports betting began at the casinos in December 2021.

Through November, Maryland sportsbooks won more than $264.5 million from bettors. Though a considerable portion of the win is shared with the casino’s third-party sportsbook partners like DraftKings and FanDuel, the new income is presumably enough to offset the brick-and-mortar slot and table game declines incurred in 2023.

The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission is expected to release December and 2023 full-year sports betting data this week.

It might not be an overly robust report for the oddsmakers, as the state’s beloved Baltimore Ravens went 4-0 in December, with victories over the Los Angeles Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars, San Francisco 49ers, and Miami Dolphins. The Ravens covered the spread in all but the team’s 37-31 overtime thriller against the Rams.