Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway celebrated its tenth anniversary this past weekend. The racino hosted a two-day anniversary party at its property in Dayton, Ohio operated by PENN Entertainment. Festivities on Aug. 16 and 17 included performances from area musical acts, charity booths, and local food vendors, as well as a celebratory fireworks display to cap off the weekend.
Despite this celebration, Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway will not be one of PENN’s two Ohio properties to debut a rebranded ESPN Bet sportsbook in September.
Hollywood Gaming Dayton is 1 of 4 PENN properties in Ohio
Hollywood Gaming opened at Dayton Raceway on Aug. 28, 2014 after a $125 million construction project. The facility hosts live harness racing and features simulcasts of other harness and thoroughbred horse races. And while it isn’t classified as an Ohio casino, the gaming area hosts nearly 1,000 video slot machines, as well as a retail sportsbook.
Hollywood Gaming Dayton is one of seven racinos operating in Ohio. It’s also one of four PENN Entertainment properties currently operating in the state. The Hollywood casinos in Columbus and Toledo opened in 2012. Then in 2014, Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course opened in Youngstown — less than a month after the Dayton facility.
This past weekend’s anniversary events were free and open to all ages. In a press release ahead of the celebration, Tim Kelley, vice president and general manager of Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway, said:
“We are thrilled to invite guests of all ages to help celebrate our 10 years being part of the Dayton community! The entire team is excited to welcome not only the amazing bands that will take the stage but also the local charities and vendors that we have built relationships with during that time in addition to our valued guests that have made it all possible.”
Sportsbook inside Hollywood Gaming Dayton to eventually rebrand as ESPN Bet
Like all 11 casino properties in Ohio, Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway also features a retail sportsbook that allows patrons to place in-person wagers on sporting events. Opening in March 2023, just a few months after sports betting launched in Ohio, the retail sportsbook space includes tellers and kiosks, as well as several large-screen televisions and a full-service bar. The sportsbook area also includes a restaurant that serves burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, salads and appetizers.
PENN Entertainment recently announced that the sportsbooks at several of its U.S. properties will soon feature ESPN Bet branding. The gaming giant partnered with ESPN and relaunched its online sportsbook as ESPN Bet last fall after ending its previous partnership with Barstool Sports.
All of the retail sportsbooks were branded as Barstool Sportsbooks until that partnership ended. Since then, the sports wagering areas at PENN’s four Ohio properties have been operating under a generic moniker. The retail sports betting space in Dayton, for example, is presented as simply “The Sportsbook at Hollywood Gaming Dayton.”
PENN says the sportsbooks at Hollywood Casino Columbus and Hollywood Casino Toledo will debut as rebranded ESPN Bet sportsbooks this September.
Jamie Garret, director of marketing at Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway, told PlayOhio that the sportsbook at the Dayton facility will eventually also have ESPN Bet branding:
“We are very proud of our partnership with ESPN Bet and plan to represent them on our property. Our Greektown property in Michigan was the first property to complete its renovation, with Toledo and Columbus on schedule for a new brand reveal in September. While I don’t have a date for when Dayton will begin its conversion, I’m excited for it to come.”
Hollywood Gaming Dayton accounts for 12% of Ohio racino slots handle, revenue in FY2024
Ohio revenue reports for fiscal year 2024 show that the Hollywood Gaming at Dayton Raceway’s slots handle was $1.9 billion, resulting in $158.6 million in revenue. That’s a 5.8% year-over-year increase in handle when compared to fiscal year 2023, with a 4.3% YoY increase in revenue.
Hollywood Gaming Dayton’s handle for FY2024 accounted for 12.4% of the overall handle for Ohio racino slots in that time period and about the same percentage of the total racino slots revenue generated in the state.
Hollywood Gaming Dayton’s sportsbook is often among the more popular retail sportsbooks in Ohio, with handle topping seven figures in the first six months of 2024. In January, the Dayton sportsbook had the third-highest handle and second-highest revenue out of Ohio’s 17 retail sportsbooks.
Hollywood Gaming Dayton’s sportsbook often has a low hold rate, which has sometimes resulted in low revenue despite relatively high handle. In May, for example, the sportsbook handled $1.2 million in bets, the seventh-highest retail sportsbook handle for the month. But its revenue was just a little over $8,000, the fourth lowest in the state.
For June, the most recent Ohio sports betting revenue monthly report available, the sportsbook at Hollywood Gaming Dayton’s reported handle was just over $1 million, with $88.4K in revenue.
