Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign an executive order today that allows Detroit's three casinos to reopen next week at 15 percent capacity, two sources familiar with the plans told Crain's.
MGM Grand Detroit, Motor City Casino and Greektown Casino have been closed since mid-March when the coronavirus pandemic hit Michigan.
Gongwer News Service reported Wednesday that the governor's order allowing the Detroit casinos to reopen is part of a broad set of changes in coronavirus restrictions, including the closure of indoor service for bars in northern Michigan.
Whitmer's new order is also expected to reinstitute a limit on indoor gatherings of no more than 10 people in the Upper Peninsula and 17 counties in the northern Lower Peninsula, where for the past seven weeks residents in those counties have been able to gather in groups of up to 50 indoors, Gongwer reported. The executive order will impose the same limits on bars in Regions 6 and 8 as exist in the rest of the Lower Peninsula where dine-in service is closed to bars that earn more than 70 percent of their gross receipts from alcohol sales.
Detroit's three casinos have been shut down since March 16, without an estimated timeline for reopening. They were hopeful for an early July reprieve, but that came and went without any word from Whitmer.
Revenue across the three casinos is down well over half from last year after all income sources — gambling, live entertainment, restaurants and hotels — were cut off. Total revenue is $299.1 million, a fraction of the record $1.5 billion made in 2019.
Losing $600,000 in tax revenue per day from casinos being closed, Detroit officials have pushed for reopening, but no dice.
The situation could be more dire for the 7,000 or so casino employees, and hundreds of thousands of others in the state without jobs, after the federal $600-per week stimulus dried up at the end of last week.
Many of the casino employees are represented by Unite Here Local 24. Union President Nia Winston and other representatives have not returned messages seeking comment.
MotorCity Casino Hotel filed a WARN notice with the state last week, saying it was laying off 2,554 employees and ending their health benefits effective Friday as Detroit's casinos languished during the governor-mandated closures.
"We also cannot predict at this point how many associates we will be in a position to bring back to work initially or in the weeks following our reopening," the notice said.
MGM Grand Detroit issued a WARN notice in May regarding a mass layoff of 2,632 workers, whose health benefits were set to run out at the end of August, according to the notice.
Greektown Casino-Hotel gave notice to the state last month that it would permanently lay off 621 of its more than 2,000 employees who were temporarily laid off. The status of their health benefits was not mentioned. Crain's sent an inquiry to the casino.
Each of the casinos agreed to pay full-time employees for two weeks after being forced to shut down. They said it has been impossible to give employees notice of layoffs and recalls due to the unpredictability of the pandemic.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board issued a comprehensive reopening plan in early June calling for a maximum 15 percent capacity, no smoking and rigorous health precautions. Since then, each casino has touted its safety procedures and engaged in marketing campaigns emphasizing mask wearing and social distancing. MGM Grand even invited media on a tour of the sanitized property.
Native American-owned casinos, not subject to state law, began reopening two months ago.
"Casinos in Ohio and Indiana are open. We have Detroit residents going to those casinos, crossing state lines," David Tsai, president and COO of MGM, said during a tour of the casino a month ago.
This story will be updated.
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Whitmer to allow Detroit casinos to reopen, reimpose some COVID-19 limits Up North - Crain's Detroit Business
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