December was the best month ever for Massachusetts’ newest casino, while it was completely opposite for the state’s other two properties.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) released figures on Wednesday which show Wynn Resorts’ Encore Boston Harbor casino garnered gaming revenue of just over $54m in December, surpassing the six-month-old property’s earlier record of $52.5m set last August.
Encore’s second-best slots revenue month was December with $22.6m, around $200k below November’s record, whereas table game revenue had its second-best month also, with $31.4m, around $850k below August’s record.
As reported by calvinayre.com, ever since the property announced that it was decreasing its table game bet minimums from $50 to $15, Encore’s tables have been on demand. This came after understanding that Boston was neither Las Vegas nor Macau, and so limiting the property to anyone but high-rollers was affecting its earnings.
However, over at MGM Resorts’ MGM Springfield property in the state’s southwest corner, it was a very different story. MGM Springfield, which launched in August 2018, observed its total gaming revenue drop to $18.95m in December, around $1m below November’s total and nearly $750k below the earlier record low set in January 2019.
It was the same dilemma for Penn National Gaming’s slots-only Plainridge Park Casino, which reported revenue of $10.2m, almost $800k below its earlier worst record in November.
Figures of the full-year 2019 show that Encore ($314m) easily surpassed MGM ($252.6m) despite Encore having only launched in the final week of June. MGM has been publicly pondering about selling the Springfield real estate to accumulate some cash and it would be wise to do that deal as soon as possible to ensure the price doesn’t fall too much.
Total revenue for Plainridge Park’s FY19 came to $151.9m, a decrease of 11.4% from 2018’s total. Previously, Penn National execs have implied that the slots-only venue will probably continue to suffer disgraces by its two state rivals, making the future of the property questionable.
CONNECTICUT SLOTS REVENUE DROP AGAIN
The coming of MGM Springfield and Encore were responsible for the fall in the slots revenue of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, Connecticut’s two tribal gaming venues. Last October, that slots decline seemed to have ended, when both properties posted slight annual gains in slots revenue, an upward trend which continued in November.
No more rejoicing as December’s figures are in and Foxwoods’s slots revenue decreased 10.1% to $33.6m while Mohegan Sun fell 11.8% to $43.9m. Both properties saw double-digit drops in slots handle, so it wasn’t simply a case of some fortunate seniors hitting big jackpots.
