Stars Casino grossed a combined $86.9 million in online casino revenue from its operations in Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2021 and is responsible for a portion of $282.9 million in such revenue in New Jersey.
Data from regulators in all three states show the operator got off to a hot start in Michigan that cooled as the year progressed. In Pennsylvania, Stars Casino PA lost a little bit of ground between the two years impacted by the pandemic, while in New Jersey the operator paired with some of its competitors to hold less than one-quarter of the vertical consistently through 2021.
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Michigan: The Newest State
Michigan is the newest US market of the three where Stars Casino is live. Affiliate Stars Casino MI is on the land-based casino license held by the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians. The tribe owns and operates Odawa Casinos in Mackinaw and Petosky.
Stars Casino MI started out by grossing just under $2 million in the last 10 days of January 2021, which also marked the opening 10 days of the state’s market. It jumped to $5.7 million in revenue in February before peaking at $5.8 million in March.
A six-month slide followed, with revenue falling from $4.7 million in April to $2.9 million in September. The bottom fell out in October when revenue dropped 66% to just $985k. Stars Casino MI clawed most of the lost ground back in November ($2.5 million) before matching September’s mark of $2.9 million in December.
The revenue figures are reported by the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), but the regulator does not separate online poker revenue from online casino revenue. Since the two verticals are not reported separately, it is not known how much poker contributed to the overall total.
Stars Casino is among the mid-sized operators in the state. One possible factor for this could be that three of its rivals have partnerships with the three commercial casinos in Detroit — among the largest in the state. BetMGM Casino MI is partnered with the MGM Grand Detroit, while Barstool Casino MI and FanDuel Casino MI are on the land-based casinos’ licenses of Greektown Casino and MotorCity Casino, respectively.
The size of a land-based casino partner isn’t the only factor at play, considering DraftKings Casino MI — which had been either the second- or third-biggest operator in terms of revenue since the market’s inception — has a partnership with Bay Mills Resort & Casino, a tribal casino in Brimley.
Pennsylvania: A Mid-Size Operator
Stars Casino PA launched in November 2019 through a partnership with the Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mt. Pocono. The operator grossed just under $2.6 million during the final two months of 2019, ending the year with a 19.1% market share versus four competitors in the vertical.
After opening 2020 with a couple of months under $1.4 million, revenue shot to an all-time high of $6.3 million in May 2020. The peak coincided with the opening months of the pandemic when lockdowns prevented many people from leaving their homes.
Monthly revenue remained above the $4 million mark for the rest of 2020 — except for November, when it hit $3.9 million. Total gross revenue for Stars Casino PA in 2020 was $47.9 million.
Revenue from the vertical in 2021 has since stabilized to a range usually between $3.4 million and $4.6 million. The operator hit $4.8 million in March, which proved to be its high for the year. Gross revenue totaled $46 million in 2021, down 3.8% year-over-year.
Stars Casino PA was in fifth place in terms of revenue in December 2021, at $3.6 million. Still, it is unlikely to secure a market share as high as 19.1% — at least for the foreseeable future. The casino operator ended 2020 with a 6.2% share of the market and held a 3.6% stake at the end of 2021. In both instances, the operator had nine competitors.
New Jersey: With Resorts, But Not Alone
New Jersey is the state where Stars Casino has had by far the longest presence. Stars Casino NJ entered into a partnership with Resorts Casino Hotel back in March 2016. It shares the license with DraftKings Casino NJ, which launched a standalone casino app in June 2020, and Barstool Casino NJ, which joined in August 2021.
Resorts has its own branded casino skin attached to the license, as well as another skin that uses the Mohegan Sun brand. Since the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) does not separate revenue by operators, it’s not known precisely how much Stars Casino NJ generated.
In terms of monthly revenue and market share, Resorts has consistently been in the vertical’s top three for some time. Revenue was $282.9 million in 2021, a 44.5% increase year-to-year ($195.8 million).
Revenue increased for 10 consecutive months of 2020 before settling in the $20 million range in 2021. Then revenue picked up during the last four months of 2021.
The best month for Stars Casino NJ and its partners was December 2021, when revenue hit $32.2 million. It was the first time Resorts had ever eclipsed the $30 million mark for revenue in the vertical.
