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Detroit casino revenues see first ever drop

DETROIT, Michigan -- As reported by The Detroit News: "The city's casino business, 10 years old in July, is finally showing the ravages of Michigan's prolonged recession.

"For the first time, Detroit's three casinos are likely to record a drop in combined annual gaming revenues, already down 2.5 percent through August. The downward trend for MGM Grand Detroit, Greektown and MotorCity is expected to continue unless the economy shows a startling uptick in the year's final four months.

"The falloff in revenue is not unexpected. Analysts say that the Detroit market, which includes Caesars Windsor in Canada, is maturing. In many ways, it is remarkable that the casinos have continued to show growth in recent years as the region's economy has been battered by job losses, bankruptcies and foreclosures.

"'Detroit's casinos have grown up,' said Bill Eadington, an industry analyst and director of the Institute for the Study of Gambling and Commercial Gaming at the University of Nevada-Reno.

"'A maturing casino sees very rapid growth and then at some point, it levels out. Now that Detroit is mature, it's not going to be having double-digit growth organically...'"

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