Annual revenue figures compiled by the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas show that casino revenue surged 32 percent in Maryland in fiscal 2013 but decreased in West Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey. Gambling revenue in Pennsylvania — now the second-largest gambling market in the nation, after Nevada — was flat.
That trend has continued into 2014. In the past two months, there has been a drumbeat of headlines such as “Trump Plaza becomes 4th casino in Atlantic City to close this year” and “Pa. slot revenue down for fiscal year.”
Maryland has been the exception. Last month, the state’s five casinos generated $82 million in revenue, 26 percent more than a year earlier, the state lottery and gaming control agency reported last week. But that was only $2 million more than in August, even though September was the first full month of operation for the newly opened Horseshoe Baltimore.
The $400 million casino, owned by Caesars Entertainment and located near M&T Bank Stadium, generated about $22 million in September. But that was largely at the expense of its closest competitor, Maryland Live, located beside the Arundel Mills mall, whose total revenue from slots and table games dropped about 10 percent, compared with a year earlier, the state reported. Hollywood Casino Perryville’s revenue declined 10.7 percent.
