Ohio Casino Revenue Increasing One Year After Coronavirus

One year after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., the 11 gaming facilities in Ohio are approaching pre-pandemic revenue numbers.

February saw Ohio casinos and racinos combine to increase their revenue to $158.677 million, 3.5% higher than the $153.331 million reported in January. That number was still off by more than $12 million from the $171.424 million in February 2020. But that’s getting closer to the numbers the state was posting before COVID-19 brought the entire industry to a halt 12 months ago.

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Among the state’s four casinos, Hollywood Toledo was the only one to boast of a year-over-year increase, from $17.07 million in February 2020 to $17.49 million in February 2021, according to figures from the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

The other three Ohio casinos dropped year-over-year but combined for an increase in revenue compared to January 2021. Their total revenue was $67.6 million in February, up 4.3% from the $64.9 million in January.

Ohio Casino Revenue Breakdown

JACK Cleveland Casino led the state in casino revenue in February at $18.36 million, followed by Hollywood Columbus ($17.52 million), Hollywood Toledo and Hard Rock Cincinnati ($14.26 million).

Combined, the four casinos reported $49.16 million in slot revenue and $35.97 million in table games intake.

The seven Ohio racinos (slot machines at race tracks) combined for $91.047 million in net win, up 2.9% from the $88.5 million in January, according to numbers posted by the Ohio Lottery.

Two of the racinos had increases compared to 12 months earlier. JACK Thistledown increased from $12.5 million in February 2020 to $13.6 million in January 2021 and Hollywood Dayton rose from $10.4 million to $11.3 million. Two others nearly equaled the figures from one year earlier: Hollywood Mahoning Valley ($11.075 million in February 2021, $11.139 million in February 2020) and Belterra Park (fell from $6.472 million to $6.463 million).

Curfew Lifted, Helping Boost Numbers

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine removed the overnight curfew on businesses, including casinos, on Feb. 11, according to Cleveland.com. That meant that gaming facilities could once again operate around the clock. The state-ordered curfew, designed to slow the spread of COVID-19, was enacted on Nov. 19 so the state’s gaming facilities had been operating with reduced hours for months.

The figures will start to skew toward 2021 compared to 2020 with the March report because the coronavirus pandemic started shutting down casinos around the nation in mid March 2020 and Ohio was no exception.