Casinos report strong revenues after reopening from COVID-19

Connecticut's two tribal casinos on Wednesday reported strong slot revenues for June, the first month they've been partly open since closing for nearly three months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It's unclear, however, whether it will be the start of a trend considering competitors to Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun have begun to reopen and cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in other parts of the country.

"All things considered, it was a solid month," said Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which owns and operates Foxwoods. However, he said, "we've cautioned ourselves internally that what happened in June, don't expect that for July because the demand is probably going to stay the same, and now you have more capacity with Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania opening up. And at some point, New York is going to open up."

Foxwoods reported generating $33.6 million in slot machine revenue for June 2020, a figure that was down 4.9% compared to $35.3 million in June of 2019 where the facility was completely open. As part of a revenue-sharing agreement, the state received $8.4 million. In June of 2019, the state received $9 million.

Foxwoods also announced that 2,000 of its roughly 5,000 furloughed workers have returned to work.

Mohegan Sun, meanwhile, reported generating $45.5 million in slot machine revenue for June, with $11.3 million of that going to the state of Connecticut. About 3,000 of roughly 5,000 workers have returned to work.

Both casinos, located about 7 miles apart in southeastern Connecticut on sovereign tribal land, opened on June 1 despite opposition from Gov. Ned Lamont, who had the state's Department of Transportation erect electronic signs near the entrances on state highways, warning visitors of the potential dangers of COVID-19 in large group settings. Neither casino has yet to report any infections.

After four months being closed, Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor have reopened since the middle of last week under new restrictions meant to keep workers and players safe -- no poker, craps or roulette until further notice, gaming tables capped at three players, and players must wear something to cover their nose and mouth upon entry and while in the gaming area, except to have a drink.

"We've had a successful opening," Burke Cain, assistant chief of the Gaming Commission's Gaming Agents Division, said. "We're in uncharted waters, of course, and with casino gaming you don't know what could happen tomorrow, but fingers crossed that we keep going and everything works out well."

Investigations and Enforcement Bureau Assistant Director Bruce Band said the Plainville slots parlor reopened July 8 with 701 gaming positions.

"They had all the required plexiglass shields installed to separate machines properly. Patrons came in, they were all wearing masks, they were only serving beverages to people seated at the games or at the restaurant being served food," Band said of Plainridge's reopening. "All in all, the operations ran very smoothly with no problems."

When it reopened Sunday, Encore Boston Harbor had 2,449 gaming positions -- 1,882 slot machines and 567 table games -- and Band said, "it seems to be going very well, they haven't had numerous problems or anything."

Cain said that Encore "did a really good job of maximizing that casino floor" and Band noted that the Everett casino installed more plexiglass barriers between slot machines than MGM Springfield, which allowed Encore to make more machines available.

MGM Springfield reopened Monday morning with 909 gaming positions -- 819 slot machines and 90 table games. "They had a good opening as well with compliance with masks, very few problems," Band said.

Without gambling activity for four months, Massachusetts likely lost out on at least $80 million in tax revenue.

With reports from Colin A. Young, State House News Service.