The prospect of new competition, of course, always prompts those with a stake in the game to protect their market share, which is why Michigan casinos certainly weren’t rooting for the Toledo proposal to pass. Gilbert will build in Cleveland and Cincinnati, while Penn gets both Toledo and Columbus. Livonia-based Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert, along with Penn National Gaming Inc., hold the contracts to develop what many fear will only intensify the challenges for Michigan casinos. Last November, Ohio voters passed a gaming ballot initiative allowing casinos in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Toledo. Indeed, Donald Trump has practically turned the strategically engineered bankruptcy into a business strategy (with billionaire investor Carl Icahn’s money).īut it wasn’t what most expected when Michigan voters approved casino gaming back in 1996.Īnd, at least for some Michigan casinos, the challenge is about to become even more pronounced.

That, of course, will come as no surprise to anyone who’s paid attention to the Atlantic City market, where almost every casino is currently in some form of restructuring. A casino in bankruptcy is rather unusual, but it happened here in Detroit with Greektown Casino, which is scheduled to emerge from Chapter 11 this summer. Michigan’s economy has spared no one entirely, and many of the glitzy operations that were once considered cash cows have enacted sizable layoffs.

“Compared to other states, Michigan isn’t as saturated as it relates to the percentage of slot machines to population,” says Jake Miklojcik, president of Michigan Consultants, a Lansing financial feasibility and public policy group, and a member of the Greektown casino management board. But more competition is right around the corner. No one is suggesting that Michigan casinos have no future, or even that they don’t have a good chance of long-term success.

Michigan’s 22 casinos all remain in operation, and a 23rd is on the horizon. As with so much else people thought they knew about economics, Michigan’s casino market has become the latest illustration of the maxim that there’s no such thing as a sure thing.

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