Wynn Resorts’ new Massachusetts casino had its best month yet in August, while the state’s two other gaming operators do their best to simply limp along.
On Monday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) reported that Wynn’s new Encore Boston Harbor property generated gaming revenue of $52.5m in August, nearly $4m higher than it earned in July, the casino’s first full month of operation following its late-June grand opening.
Encore’s strong showing came courtesy of its red-hot gaming tables, which grew by nearly $5m from July to $32.25m, while slots revenue fell by nearly $1m to $20.2m. The poor slots showing wasn’t due to declining volume, which actually rose nearly 37% from July. Instead, slots hold fell by 2.4 points to 5.63%, Encore’s worst monthly showing to date.
MGM Resorts’ MGM Springfield property in the state’s southwest corner reported overall revenue of just under $21m ($15.6m slots, $5.3m tables), its best showing in three months, but still well below the nearly $27m the property earned in its first full month of operations in September 2018.
With its first full year of operations now under its belt, MGM Springfield’s total revenue stands at $273.8m, a significant haircut from the company’s pre-opening projections of $418m in annual revenue. MGM continues to maintain a stiff upper lip in public regarding the property’s performance to date, although it’s also taking steps to upgrade the venue’s amenities to draw additional customer segments.
And things could always be worse. Penn National Gaming’s Plainridge Park slots parlor reported revenue of $12.1m, its worst showing since February 2017. Slots handle came in at $159.6m, a modest uptick from July’s coin-in figure but well under the numbers posted through most of this spring (prior to Encore’s opening).
Encore’s launch has also been blamed for causing havoc at the two Twin River casinos in neighboring Rhode Island, which saw significant declines in slots (-17%) and table game revenue (-34%) in July. Those declines finally convinced the casinos’ primary slots supplier International Game Technology to pull some of its aging and underperforming machines from their gaming floors.
