In July, racinos in Ohio reported a hike in revenue, while among casinos, only the Hollywood Casino Columbus saw an increase in revenue last month.
Statewide, revenue from racinos saw an increase from $80.1 million in July 2015 to $73.1 million, according to the reports released on Monday by the Ohio Casino Control Commission (pdf) and the Ohio Lottery Commission. A modest increase from last year’s reported $12.80 million to $13.1 million was seen by Scioto Downs, the 5/8-mile racetrack located on the south side of Columbus.
Meanwhile, reporting a 2.3 percent increase, the Hollywood Casino Columbus was the lone standout among the state’s four casinos. The other three casinos reported a decrease in revenue, with the largest drop of 12.3 percent being reported at the Jack Cleveland Casino, formerly the Horseshoe Cleveland. Revenue at Hollywood Toledo was down 2.7 percent and a 7.1 percent revenue decline was reported at Jack Cincinnati.
The significant decrease in revenue was attributed in part to a drop in visitor numbers during the Republican National Convention, which the City of Cleveland hosted this year from July 18 to the 21. Last month, in a phone interview with Cleveland.com, Mark Tricano, the Senior Vice President of Operations for Jack Cleveland Casino, said that the convention created challenges to the operations of local businesses as the bulk of their customers are locals who would have avoided the downtown area during the week due to traffic and or safety concerns.
It is the third consecutive month of declines for the state’s casinos after June revenue for Ohio casinos and racinos was down 5.4 percent from May; a far cry from the first three months of 2016, which were recorded as the highest single quarter for the four casinos since they opened in 2012.