Racinos and casinos in Ohio had a successful run last year and they hope to continue such this year too. Business was amazing for these companies in 2019 even though the top performers in the state suffered a year on year fall.
According to Calvin Ayre, the Ohio Casino Control Commission released some figures last week – the commission is in charge of the four brick and mortar casinos running in the state, including the Ohio Lottery Commission. In addition, they also oversee the video terminal operation at the 7 racetracks in the state.
The figures show the state earned a gaming revenue in the region of $1.95 billion last year. This is a 4.2 percent increase when compared to the revenue earned in 2018.
The figures did not include the betting revenue of track races or profits from all non-gaming activities at any licensed operation in Ohio. The state’s portion of this income was in the region of $650 million.
The 4 casinos posted a revenue increase of 1.6 percent year-on-year to $851 million. In this revenue, slots held an estimated $580.23 million. On the other hand, table games made up of the remaining $270.75 million. The figures for the casino got a massive boost from the total revenue of December of $74.4 million, which is second only to the $81.1 million earned in March last year.
The 7 racinos earned a combined $1.1 billion in VLT earnings, a 6.2 percent increase when compared to the sum received in 2018. The month of December was just as kind to the VLT operations of the racinos as they posted the third largest monthly earnings total last year.
The Northfield Park of MGM (which was previously known as Hard Rock Rocksino) was at the forefront of the gaming revenue derby with a sum of $253.6 million. This was less by 1 percent when compared to that of 2018.
The four casinos in the state occupied the rest of the top 5, and it was led by Hollywood Casino Columbus in coming in second place with a sum of $229.2 million. It was followed by JACK Cleveland with a sum of $212.1 million, Jack Cincinnati with $202.7 million, and Hollywood Casino Toledo with $202 million.
At this point in time, the state of Ohio has not joined the list of states that have legalized sports betting within its borders. But from the look of things, there are high hopes that there will be significant progress in that regard this year.
News coming from the legislative arm of the state shows that there are two separate betting bills on the floor. The major difference between the two bills is the regulatory bodies in the state that would monitor all betting activities. Another issue they seek to address is the tax gambling licensees would pay the state.
