MGM National Harbor Opens Outdoor Gaming Terrace With Slots

MGM has been pushing to have an indoor gaming space since early last year, long before the news of the pandemic started to spread. After months of lobbying, planning and organizing, it appears that MGM will finally attain its goal of opening up a terrace that will allow slot players to enjoy the spanning views of Virginia and DC from the MGM National Harbor.

This new terrace will overlook the Beltway just above the theater and will be an extra amenity of guests of MGM. That means that all MGM’s customers, whether they are staying on-site or not, can come to the terrace and enjoy some fresh air as they enjoy some of the favorite slots. 

The terrace will house a total of 41 slots but there will also be beverage service, as well as every amenity that you would expect from a traditional casino floor. MGM National Harbor’s outdoor gaming terrace has been touted casino Al Fresco and will offer guests an array of slots including 88 Fortunes, Dancing Drums, as well as Buffalos. 

What else will be included in the 2,500 square foot terrace?

The 125 square foot floor will be made up of more than 120 table games, as well as more than 3,000 slot machines. As such, there will be plenty of variety to choose from, included in the massive casino floor will also be a high limit casino gaming room, as well as a Baccarat pit.

Poker lovers will be pleased with the casino’s poker room that will feature 46 tables, 10 of which will feature high limit games. There is also a race book off-track betting lounge on site that was designed in collaboration with the Maryland Jockey Club that contains 21 carrels for visitors. Smoking will be allowed on the outdoor terrace.

MGM continues with iGaming expansion plans

Meanwhile, MGM Resorts continues to pursue its ambition of becoming the biggest iGaming operator in the country as iGaming regulations continue to change across the country. At the height of the pandemic, MGM International opted to make one of the most dramatic transformations in its sector.

With the behemoth brand’s showrooms, dining, and entertainment options, as well as brick and mortar gaming shuttered by closures, MGM Resorts opted to turn its attention to its iGaming offerings instead. According to BetMGM which operates well known casino brands such as Excalibur, Bellagio, and MGM Grand, it expects to generate $1 billion in net revenue by 2022 thanks to the momentum it maintained throughout 2020.

BetMGM is a joint venture between MGM Resorts International and Entain. In the US, BetMGM is available to punters in New Jersey, West Virginia, Colorado, Indiana, West Virginia, Michigan, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Iowa, as well as Nevada. According to BetMGM, its efforts to dominate the iGaming market in 2020 resulted in a 23% market share.

Now that it has established itself as the one to watch in the iGaming sector, the only thing that it needs to do is maintain this momentum. According to data, BetMGM is the leader of iGaming in the country and is on track to become the 2nd most popular sports betting operator. And with sports betting and iGaming rapidly growing in the country, BetMGM is taking its commitment to responsible gambling very seriously.

Even though MGM Harbor has been operating at reduced capacity for most of last year, the brand continues to dominate the Maryland gaming market in revenue. As one of the 6 commercial casinos in Maryland, MGM Harbor generated $66.5m in revenue for March 2021.

However, in total, the state’s casinos managed to set a monthly record with $169.2 million in revenue. The commercial casinos contributed $71 million to state coffers with $51.6 million being directed to the education fund. The state lifted its capacity restrictions to 50% on March 12th, which certainly helped to drive up the numbers.

So far, MGM National Harbor and Horseshoe Casino are still required to maintain the 50% capacity. The remaining 4 commercial casinos, on the other hand, have no capacity restrictions. They are still required to maintain social distancing measures at table games and slot machines.

 Maryland’s 4 remaining commercial casinos include Hollywood Casino Perryville located in Cecil County, Live! Casino & Hotel which is situated in Anne Arundel County, Rocky Gap Casino Resort in Allegany County, as well as Ocean Downs Casino in Worcester County. MGM Harbor is located in Prince George’s County while Horseshoe casino is in Baltimore City.

Maryland to soon have Sports betting

As the state prepares to ease restrictions to accommodate more punters, the 6 commercial casinos are eagerly awaiting the advent of legal sports betting in the state. Not too long ago, the House of Delegates approved the amended sports bill unanimously. This means that if the bill is passed into law without any objections from the Senate or the House, then punters in Maryland will soon be allowed to wager from anywhere within state lines.

Any Maryland casinos including MGM National Harbor, horse tracks, sports stadiums and a selection of small businesses will be eligible to sign up for licenses both retail and online. As things stand, there are 37 proposed sports wagering licenses. These will consist of at least 15 mobile licenses and 12 brick and mortar wagering licenses to the 6 casinos.

Because major professional sports venues will also be eligible to apply for a taste of the sports betting pie, Maryland will soon be the 3rd state to allow in-stadium sports betting. The only other 2 states that have in-stadium betting are Illinois and Washington D.C. Neighboring Arizona and New York will also soon have legal sports betting.

The remaining 10 retail licenses will be up for grabs by smaller business entities. Some well-known sportsbooks already have an existing relationship with the state’s 6 casinos. For instance, BetMGM is definitely tied to MGM National. If everything goes according to plan and the legislation process moves forward without any objections, Maryland punters could be wagering on sports before the 2021 football season.