Ohio Gaming Revenue Falls Short in First Year

The first full year of casino gambling in Ohio is now complete and the Ohio Casino Control Commission has released reports regarding casino revenue, and the bad news is that the numbers reported are a more than just a little lower than what was expected. There's a total of four casinos in the state, the Horseshoe Cincinnati, the Horseshoe Cleveland, the Hollywood Toledo and the Hollywood Columbus and the adjusted gross casino revenue was $839 million. This figure falls short of the $1.9 billion that was spoken about while campaigning to bring regulated casino gambling to Ohio giving opponents extra firepower.

As with most states in the US that offer regulated casino gambling it was slots that provided a large chunk of the revenue, a total of $559.4 million, compared to table games that delivered $251.9 million, and out of the 4 casinos in Ohio it was the Horseshoe Cleveland that was the most successful with $242.6 million in revenue generated. This news comes on the back of lower than expected results from online gaming in all 3 states in which it is regulated, however there are of course different reasons for this, but opponents of both online and offline gambling will be quick to jump on the numbers provided. When campaigning for any casino expansion plans it's often the revenue and jobs that will be created that are the key drivers to acceptance among politicians and the public alike, however when those numbers simply do not live up to those promised, fuel is often added to the fire for those against any gambling expansion plans.