How much has the Springfield, Massachusetts, MGM casino hurt the two casinos in Connecticut?
The early line is, not much.
It’s a little premature for a definitive verdict, MGM Springfield having been open only since late August. But while foot traffic was initially higher than expected, MGM had to admit that revenues were lower than projected.
Not only that, the novelty factor wore off quickly. The September gross gaming revenue number was $27 million, which fell to $22 million in October.
Connecticut's Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods report only slot revenue, but in October, Foxwoods was down 15.5% and Mohegan Sun was 17.5% lower. To put that into perspective, in September, slot revenue at MGM Springfield was $18 million, Foxwoods grossed $38 million, and Mohegan Sun took in $47 million from the one-armed bandits. So the tribal casinos are still clobbering MGM, despite the falloff in slot revenues.
That’s good for them, since a federal court judge threw out a planned satellite casino to be operated jointly by Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in the Hartford suburb of East Windsor. He faulted the state of Connecticut for juicing the tribes into a third casino rather than holding an open-bidding process.
If the tribes appeal (which they will), MGM Resorts International can enter the case as a plaintiff, as it covets the city of Bridgeport, Connecticut, CEO Jim Murren’s home town, where it wants to build a megaresort midway between New York City and the two tribal casinos. This would breach the tribal compact that gives Connecticut a 25% share of Foxwoods’ and Mohegan Sun’s slot revenues. MGM claims it could more than make up the difference, but frankly, we're a bit skeptical.
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Seamans
Dec-15-2018
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