The Buckeye State’s brick-and-mortar casino market had one of its worst months in November.
The four Ohio casinos won $80.4 million in November, according to numbers from the Ohio Casino Control Commission. It marked the second-worst month of 2023, behind only October’s $79.3 million.
After starting the fourth quarter of 2023 with the worst two months of the year, the properties must report nearly $82 million to break last year’s record of $1.005 billion. Gaming operators would easily pass these benchmarks if legislators would legalize Ohio online casinos. But for now, online casino gaming isn’t a regulated industry.
Ohio casinos at risk of breaking streak of annual revenue increases
Aside from a pandemic-induced decline in year-over-year revenue in 2020, this would be just the second time Ohio casinos experienced a yearly drop.
The only other time came when the industry dipped from $812.3 million to $797.9 million in 2015 and 2016.
If it weren’t for closures and reduced capacity in 2020, there likely would’ve been yearly increases from 2017 through the present. Ohio casinos won $634.4 million in 2020. It was the worst month in state history.
However, last year was the first time Ohio cracked the $1 billion mark in gross gaming revenue.
November casino revenue breakdown
| Casino | Table Game Revenue | Slot Machine Revenue | Gross Gaming Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hollywood Casino Columbus | $5,359,573 | $16,363,731 | $21,927,284 |
| Jack Cleveland Casino | $8,430,941 | $12,922,215 | $21,353,156 |
| Hard Rock Cincinnati | $6,882,393 | $12,842,926 | $19,725,319 |
| Hollywood Casino Toledo | $1,958,470 | $15,643,423 | $17,601,893 |
| Totals | $22,631,377 | $57,777,295 | $80,403,672 |
Hollywood Columbus Casino led the pack … barely
The PENN Entertainment-owned Hollywood Casino Columbus recorded the largest revenue of any casino. Ohio gamblers lost $21.7 million in one of two PENN-owned facilities.
Jack Cleveland Casino was just behind the Columbus facility with revenue totaling $21.3 million. The two casinos won roughly the same amount, but it was in very different fashions.
Jack Cleveland made a much larger percentage of its revenue from the table games. Bettors lost $8.4 million at table games in Cleveland compared to $12.9 million on slot machines.
On the other hand, Hollywood Columbus reported $16.4 million of its revenue from slot machines. In other words, slot machines comprised 75.3% of the property’s gaming revenue.
PENN’s casinos bookended the revenue standings, with its Toledo property bringing up the rear, winning $17.6 million. Hollywood Casino Toledo was the lowest-grossing casino for every month in 2023. Hard Rock Cincinnati Casino earned monthly revenue of $19.7 million.
