Casinoz
Michigan's casino gaming industry generated $2.8 billion in economic impact and created more than 17,000 direct and spin-off jobs in 2013, a new industry-financed study has found.
Done by Oxford Economics and paid for by the American Gaming Association, the study titled "Impacts of the Commercial Gaming Industry in Michigan" looked at Michigan's gaming industry for that year.
That $2.8 billion included nearly $897 million in total labor income, supporting more than 17,000 total jobs. Without those jobs, Michigan's unemployment rate would rise by about 1 percentage point, the study said. Michigan's jobless rate stood at 6.7% in November.
"The commercial casino industry in Michigan supports approximately one out of every 239 jobs statewide," the report said.
"This study shows that gaming is driving big results in Michigan," said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of the American Gaming Association. "However, given increased competition and changing consumer demands, our future success depends on strong partnerships with policymakers that allow us to innovate, reinvest and create more jobs."
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MGM Grand Casino and Hotel in Detroit, photographed on Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2013. Casino revenues are down this year. Kimberly P. Mitchell/Detroit Free Press(Photo: Detroit Free Press)
The commercial gaming industry generated about $730 million in total tax revenues in 2013, the study found. Of that, the industry generated about $306 million in gaming taxes in 2013 that supported municipal services. The balance of the $730 million was in the form of various sales taxes, income taxes, and so forth.
Michigan is home to 26 casinoz. That includes three state-regulated casinoz in Detroit — MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity Casino and Greektown Casino-Hotel — and 23 tribal casinoz owned by Indian tribes.
The Native American tribal casinoz have resulted from state gaming compacts signed with individual tribes. Some of the compacts date to 1993, while others are more recent.
The three casinoz in Detroit stem from a November 1996 vote in which Michigan voters approved Proposal E, authorizing three licensed casinoz to be built in Detroit. Proposal E was later revised and signed into law as the Michigan Gaming Control & Revenue Act.
Through November, the three Detroit casinoz reported total revenue of more than $1.2 billion for the first 11 months of 2014, generating state wagering taxes of $98.3 million.
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People play the slot machines at Greektown Casino Hotel in Detroit on Friday, Dec. 20, 2013. The casino is located in downtown Detroit's historic Greektown Entertainment District and features 2,850 slot machines. Kimberly P. Mitchell/Detroit Free Press(Photo: Detroit Free Press)
Casino tax revenues have become an essential part of the City of Detroit's fiscal planning in recent years.