Ohio Casino and Racino Revenue in August Up From 2018 Level

The 11 casinos and racinos in Ohio took in $164.4 million for August 2019, up 4.2 percent from the August 2018, according to the reports released on Monday by the Ohio Casino Control Commission, a Division of Regulatory Compliance.

Ohio Gaming Venue Specifics

Overall gambling revenue at the seven Video Lottery Terminal racinos continued to see revenue grow, seeing an increase of 6.3 percent from last year to $93 million, reported by the Ohio Lottery Commission. The four casinos that have both table games and slots took in $71.4 million, a revenue boost of 1.6 percent from August 2018.

The Hollywood Columbus Casino led the way with $19.1 million in total revenue for the month. That was followed by the JACK Cleveland Casino, which took in just under $18 million. The Hollywood Toledo Casino was third in revenue at $17.21 million, followed by The JACK Cincinnati Casino at $17.1 million.

The JACK Thistledown Racino was the big winner in growth, seeing nearly a 11 percent increase from last year and raking in $12.2 million. Other risers were Hollywood Gaming Dayton which took in $10 million, and Miami Valley Gaming at $15.4 million, both of which saw growth over 10% from last year.

The biggest earner in the state, MGM Northfield Park, was down 3.2% from last year, but still made $20.7 million. Though every venue saw a brief high in March, revenue for the racino has stayed low since the rebranding from the Hard Rock Rocksino in April.

Two Ohio Sports Betting Bills in Works

Ohio residents cannot make legal sports bets yet, but they can go to neighboring Pennsylvania and Indiana to make wagers on sports. In Pennsylvania, anyone can simply do that on an app as long as they are within state lines.

State lawmakers in Ohio are weighing two different sports gambling bills:

• One plans to have sports betting controlled by Ohio’s Casino Control Commission, which is currently in charge of regulating the four casinos in the state.
• One would give the Ohio Lottery the control on sports betting; they are currently in charge of running the gambling operations at all seven racinos in Ohio.

According to News5Cleveland, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine is in favor of the first bill which would give the state’s Casino Control Commission full control. However, opponents question the constitutionality of the bill.

Little progress has been made regarding sports gambling bills in Ohio, but the state legislature is back in session, so new developments on sports betting in Ohio could be coming soon.

Check out states where online casinos for real money is legal.