Ohio Casino Revenue Dips To $86.5 Million In April

Ohio casino revenue cooled off in April after a hot few months to start out the year. While Ohio’s four casinos are still on track to set another revenue record for the year, April’s numbers were lackluster — especially for a month that is typically one of the two highest for the year.

Ohio casinos brought in $86.5 million in April, which represents a 6.8% decrease compared to last April. In 2022, April was the second-highest grossing month for the year and came within $500,000 of the highest earning month of March.

This year, however, April revenue decreased by nearly $7 million compared to the previous month. That’s a 7.5% decrease month-over-month.

Ohio casino revenue falls after record March

In March, Ohio casinos set a monthly revenue record, barely topping the record set one year before. Despite this year’s March and April totals, revenues for Q1 exceed last year’s by more than $11 million.

2023 casino revenue Jan.-April: $348,640,533
2022 casino revenue Jan.- April: $337,059,584
Difference: $11,580,949

Casino revenues include four single properties in Ohio’s largest metro areas, which offer table games in addition to slot machines. The Ohio Lottery Commission regulates and separately reports the revenues for Ohio’s seven racinos, which are limited to slot machine gaming.

Ohio casino revenue

April 2023: $86,496,095
March 2023: $93,475,564 (new monthly revenue record)
April 2022: $92,848,116

Leading Ohio casino drops in revenue rank

JACK Cleveland Casino, often the highest-earning casino of the four, dropped in the revenue ranking to the third-highest-earning casino in April. JACK came up $1 million short of Hollywood Columbus’ total, and Hard Rock Cincinnati brought in about $600,000 more than JACK.

In March, Hollywood Columbus and Hard Rock Cincinnati nearly matched the Cleveland casino’s revenues but didn’t quite catch up. JACK isn’t always on top, though; the two casinos in Cincinnati and Columbus topped JACK’s revenues in April last year as well.

All four casino revenues dropped more than $1 million in April, both MoM and YoY.

April casino revenue comparison (millions)

Casino	April 2023	April 2022	March 2023
JACK Cleveland	$21.9	$23.0	$24.4
Hollywood Columbus	$23.0	$24.3	$24.3
Hard Rock Cincinnati	$22.5	$24.4	$24.0
Hollywood Toledo	$19.0	$21.1	$20.7
Total	$86.5	$92.8	$93.5

Ohio racinos are also on track to set new record

Ohio’s seven racinos saw a similar revenue trend in March and April. March set a new record, and April revenues declined. In April, the racinos posted $118 million, which was a 3.8% decrease YoY and a 5.7% decrease from the new March record.

The March record was made possible by one racino — the only one to post significantly higher numbers than the year before. Miami Valley Gaming increased its revenue by $2 million or 9.85% over the previous March. The rest of the racinos basically matched their previous numbers.

Overall, with the continuing growth of gambling in Ohio, casinos and racinos are expected to do better this year than last year. Gambling continues to grow in popularity in the state, and for casinos and racinos there could be some spill-over effect from the newly launched sports betting in Ohio.

Every Ohio casino and racino has added a retail sportsbook on site, most featuring food and drink in a sports bar atmosphere. With Ohio’s sports betting market on pace to be one of the largest in the country, the new amenities likely attract visitors who might not otherwise visit the gambling locations.