43
April numbers slightly dip below March revenue at Hollywood Gaming
By ROBERT CONNELLY
AUSTINTOWN
April earnings was nearly identical to March earnings at Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course.
There were $74,875,432 credits played at the Austintown facility in April, about $263,000 fewer than in March. Similarly, the net win, or revenue, dropped about $248,000 to $7,736,887.
That net win had $5,119,305 stay with Hollywood Gaming and $2,591,857 go to the Ohio Lottery Commission. Problem-gambling services received $25,725, according to monthly reports released by the OLC.
Percent payout increased 0.30 percentage points to 89.67 percent in April, and promotional play credits increased for the third-consecutive month to $553,312, the highest amount for one month since the racino opened Sept. 17.
The average number of video-lottery terminals was 865, and the win per VLT per day was $298 for the second-consecutive month.
Correspondingly, statewide numbers showed credits played dropped $20 million from March, and net win statewide dropped $2 million, from $72,729,646 in March to $70,516,485 in April.
Of that April revenue, the seven racinos kept $46,658,995, the state lottery took in $23,623,023 and $234,467 went to problem-gambling services.
“We’re very pleased with the April results. Another strong month, virtually identical to March given that the month was one day shorter,” said Bob Tenenbaum, Penn National spokesman. “In our view, it continues to show strong support and patronage from the community and plenty of room for growth.”
Hollywood Gaming has bounced between $6.8 million and $7.9 million from November to April.
“After a couple months, it’s going to settle into a figure that is going to be recurring,” said Alan Silver, Ohio University assistant professor of restaurant, hotel and tourism and a casino expert.
On the casino side, three of the four Ohio casinos saw drops in adjusted gross casino revenue ranging from about $800,000 to $1.6 million. Penn National-owned Hollywood Casino Columbus was the only casino to post a better April than March, increasing revenue by about $300,000 to $18,647,077.
The Hard Rock Rocksino in the Cleveland suburbs took a step back in April after outpacing all facilities in Ohio except for the Horseshoe Cleveland in March. Revenue at the Rocksino dropped about $1.3 million in April to $17.2 million.