MGM Springfield Casino Win Soars 19 Percent, $25.7M Haul Resort’s Second All-Time Best Month

Posted on: April 17, 2019, 10:47h. 

Last updated on: April 17, 2019, 10:47h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

MGM Springfield enjoyed a prosperous March where the integrated resort saw its casino floor win $25.7 million, an increase of 19 percent compared to the prior month.

MGM Springfield casino revenue
MGM Springfield rode a strong March to post its second-highest casino earnings to date. (Image: The Boston Globe)

The $960 million property opened August 24, 2018. March was the casino’s second-highest gross gaming revenue (GGR) performance in its seven full months in operation.

March was a very strong month for the property and represented our best slot month since opening,” MGM Springfield President Michael Mathis told The Republican. “We recognize in this early ramp up period that results will continue to vary month to month as our operation, programming, and customer base stabilizes.”

With GGR proceeds taxed at 25 percent, MGM Springfield delivered more than $6.4 million to the state last month.

Plainridge Park – the slots-only facility – reported March GGR of $15.9 million. The casino shares 49 percent of its win with the state, which was $7.8 million last month.

MGM Roars

MGM Springfield reported that 2.7 million people entered through its doors last year. MGM says about half of the visitors are from inside the state.

The Springfield casino was approved under the 2011 Massachusetts Expanded Gaming Act as a way to revitalize the city and grow tourism. MGM preserved several historical buildings on the site including the First Spiritualist Church, a 130-year-old house of worship that was relocated during construction.

The casino is betting on drawing visitors from the north-central region of Connecticut. MGM Springfield is less than five miles from the Massachusetts-Connecticut border.

The property’s March performance is a welcomed bounce back after MGM Springfield recorded its lowest monthly revenue win in January at $19.7 million. MGM Resorts predicted GGR in its first full year would total $418 million. That equates to nearly $35 million, meaning the casino is severely lagging behind premarket revenue forecasts.

Tribal Winds

Connecticut’s two tribes – the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Native Americans – are developing a satellite casino in nearby East Windsor in an effort to keep critical gaming dollars in the state. But the gaming facility, which will be known as Tribal Winds and house 1,800 slots and 60 table games, was severely delayed when former US Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke failed to approve the state’s amended tribal gaming compacts.

The Department of the Interior finally signed off on the compact amendments last month.

Connecticut receives 25 percent of the slot win at the tribes’ Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos. But those tax proceeds continue to decline.

In 2006, Mohegan Sun delivered $229.4 million in slot machine tax payments, and Foxwoods $204.2 million. Last year, those numbers came in at $147.8 million, and $115.8 million – a cumulative reduction of $170 million.

Foxwoods recently divulged its plans to Casino.org to overhaul its casino and resort. The goal, according to executive Anika Howard, is to incorporate innovating gaming technologies and attractions that appeal to current customer demand, while also bringing in new, younger guests.