BALTIMORE — Maryland’s six casino’s generated $145,236,133 in April of 2019, a 1.2 percent increase over the same month last year, Maryland Lottery and Gaming announced in a statement Tuesday.
That translated to $60,237,473 for state coffers, including $45,205,542 for the Education Trust Fund, Maryland Lottery and Gaming said. The six privately-owned casinos, offering slots and table games, include the MGM National Harbor in Prince George’s County, Live! Casino & Hotel in Anne Arundel County, the Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore City, the Hollywood Casino Perryville in Cecil County, Ocean Downs Casino in Worcester County, and Rocky Gap Casino Resort in Allegany County.
MGM National Harbor led all casinos in total revenue, with $60,804,670, marking a 5.3 percent increase from April 2018. Four of the casinos saw revenue increases during the past year, but the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore and the Hollywood Casino Perryville saw declines in revenue of 9.6 percent and 9.8 percent, respectively. With MGM National Harbor being the state’s most recently opened casino, speculation grew that the market may have reached a saturation point, and that the new gaming place closer to Washington, D.C., would potentially cannibalize revenue from existing casinos.
The state recently created a “casino lockbox”to secure casino and gambling funding so that it would be held aside specifically for education spending. While casino’s were largely sold to state voters as a way to fund education in Maryland, a review of state funds showed that much of the casino revenue was simply replacing other state funds allocated for education, not serving as augmented funding for such priorities.
