Maryland’s casino revenue had an overall rally in March as the six gambling halls accounted for $176.5 million in gaming revenue, the fifth-highest total in the history of casino gaming in the state.
However, while three casinos had gains in same-month, year-over-year comparisons, three others saw dips in their revenue against March 2022 results.
The March 2023 figure was a 12.3% increase over the $157.1 million in the Maryland February casino revenue report. And it was an increase of 3.5%, or about $6 million, over March 2022. Obviously, March 2023 included three more calendar days than February 2023, but it included the same number of weekend days.
The jump in March 2023 casino revenue resulted in an increase in contributions to the state. The March contribution was $74.5 million, an increase of $2.6 million, or 3.6%, compared to March 2022.
The Old Line State has not made Maryland online casino gaming legal.
Distribution of Maryland Casino Revenue
Most tax money from casinos in Maryland goes toward education and the contribution to the Education Trust Fund (ETF) in March 2023 was about $54.2 million. Casino contributions are also distributed to support the communities and jurisdictions where the casinos are located, to the state’s horse racing industry, and they also support small, minority- and women-owned businesses.
As usual, the casino revenue figures were dominated by MGM National Harbor in Prince George’s County and Live! Casino & Hotel in Anne Arundel County. Together, those two casinos combined for almost 78% of the total casino revenue in the state.
Maryland Casino Revenue Analysis
MGM National Harbor – which falls under the same corporate umbrella that accounts for the BetMGM Maryland Sportsbook – had revenues of $72.6 million in March, an increase of 7.1% from March 2022.
Live! Casino & Hotel had revenues of $64.4 million, an increase of 3.8% from March 2022.
The rest of the casinos stacked up this way: Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, almost $18.1 million in revenue, a decrease of 4.3% from the same month last year; Ocean Downs Casino in Worcester County, more than $8 million, an increase of 4.1 from March 2022; Hollywood Casino Perryville in Cecil County, $7.97 million, down 7.2%; and Rocky Gap Casino Resort in Allegany County, $5.4 million, a 4.7% drop.
Revenues for March from retail sports betting operators and Maryland sportsbook apps will be reported later in the month.
