Workers at all three Detroit casinos received bad news pertaining their paychecks. Thousands of these workers at the three hotels will have their paychecks stopped. This is because the COVID-19 shutdown of these casinos have been extended in a bid to avoid the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity and Greektown casinos that closed down during mid-March will now remain closed. They are going to remain closed till at least the 13th of April.
Workers have been informed that they will no longer be getting paid after the March 31 which is the original coronavirus shutdown window. Although the workers will no longer be getting paid they get to see their benefits extended through 30 June. Your gambling doesn’t have to stop as you can play online casino games for real money.
These three are the only commercial casinos in Michigan. MGM Grand Detroit is owned by Las Vegas Casino powerhouse MGM Resorts International. Greektown is owned by Penn National Gaming, whilst MotorCity is owned by LLitch known to be a wealthy family.
The other 23 tribal casinos that operates in this state have all closed temporarily. This was after the announcement from the governor Gretchen Whitmer. He announced during the be4ginning of March that all large gatherings are to be banned.
The announcement of extended shutdown came after the president of the United states Donald Trump announced that social distancing will continue up to the end of April. Hence these casinos will likely change their plans to open mid-April.
Before their shutdown of these 3 casinos, they had opened retail sportsbooks days before. The launch of these marked Michigan’s official entry into the US sports betting which was authorized end of last year.
Detroit Casinos Shutdown A Difficult Decisions
The three casinos operators expressed that the decision that they have made pertaining their workers was not an easy one to make.
The president of Penn National Gaming Jay Snowden said in a statement that the decision to halt payment was difficult and that they are focused on op0eninjt the casino as soon as it is safe. He also said that he understands and the company regrets the hardships that has been put on the 26,000 workers on absence or leave.
Penn has also gone as far as cutting down the pay of the Snowden and others in the leadership roles. The company has an emergency relief fund of over $1.2 million to help employees .
MGM grand resorts international owners also set up emergency funds for their employees just like Penn National Gaming. The owner of this hotels launched some initiatives to help employees during this difficult times.
The company has pledged $1 million for the employee emergency relief fund. They have also donated 400,000 meals during this time. The fund will help both full time, on cover and those who are on layoff.
Coronavirus cases in the US
Currently US is one of the countries that is most affected by the virus. The numbers of the cases in this country has gone beyond the number of both China and Italy. There 184,437 cases and 3,756 deaths.
Detroit Casinos FAQs
[accordiongroup id=”197″][accordion group=”197″ title=”What has happened to the Detroit’s casinos?” active=”true”]The Detroit’s casinos have extended the coronavirus shutdown to mid-April. The decision came after the president announced that social distancing in the US will continue up until the end of April.[/accordion][accordion group=”197″ title=”How Many Casinos are there in that territory?” active=””]There are 26 casinos of which 23 of them are tribal owned. Three are the commercial ones.[/accordion][accordion group=”197″ title=”When will the casinos reopen?” active=””]The casinos have stopped workers from working. Theyb plan on opening mid-April. But those plans may be reversed since the social distancing measure was extended to the 30th of April by the US president.[/accordion][accordion group=”197″ title=”What are the measures taken to protect the workers?” active=””]There are emergency relief funds set up for employees by the three casino owners. These will help out those who are on furlough.[/accordion][accordion group=”197″ title=”Which are the three commercial casinos in Detroit?” active=””]MGM Grand Detroit, MotorCity and Greektown casinos are the three commercial casinos. The other 23 are tribal casinos.[/accordion][/accordiongroup]