Massachusetts Casinos Chronicle a Successful February

The three casino destinations in the eastern American state of Massachusetts saw their aggregated gross gaming revenues for February increase by slightly over 7.5% month-on-month and 2.6% year-on-year to top $100.5 million.

Home to about seven million people, Massachusetts legalized casino gaming in 2011 before welcoming the slots-only Plainridge Park Casino facility some four years later. This 106,000 sq ft facility was soon joined by the 250-room MGM Springfield venue and the much larger Encore Boston Harbor enterprise to give punters in ‘The Bay State’ a choice of three Las Vegas-style gambling destinations.

Triumphant Trio

Figures released by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission regulator show the 671-room Encore Boston Harbor property was the biggest February earner as its slot and gaming table revenues rose by approximately 5.6% month-on-month and 2.7% year-on-year to $64.4 million. The four-year-old property from Wynn Resorts Limited also saw its combined tax contributions for the 29-day period swell by an analogous proportion to a healthy $16.1 million.

For its part, MGM Springfield, with its 125,000 sq ft casino, recorded February slot and gaming table revenues of $22.9 million, which equated to a month-on-month swell of nearly 11%. However, this figure from the property operated by MGM Resorts International was some 1.2% down when compared with the same period last year, although it did hand over a beneficial $5.7 million in tax.

Finally, the Plainridge Park Casino, with its assortment of over 1,250 slots, recorded February gambling revenues of roughly $13.2 million. This tally from the Penn Entertainment Incorporated-run venue represented a boost of 10.9% month-on-month and 9.4% year-on-year and led to an impressive tax bill of $6.4 million.

Public Purse

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission revealed Plainridge Park Casino is classified as ‘a category 2 slots facility’ so its monthly gross gambling revenues are taxed at a rate of 49%. The regulator detailed that 82% of this cash goes to the governments of surrounding communities, with the remainder helping to fund the state’s Race Horse Development Fund.

Encore Boston Harbor and MGM Springfield are defined as casino resorts and so pay a much lower 25% tax on their monthly gross gambling revenues. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission asserted levies collected from these properties ‘are allocated to several specific state funds as determined by the gaming statute’ with the jurisdiction having so far benefited to the tune of approximately $1.677 billion since 2011.

Sports Betting Slump

With regards to online and retail sports betting, which went live in Massachusetts during the first three months of 2023, aggregated February revenues decreased by 26.1% month-on-month and 97.3% year-on-year to $52.5 million with a hold of about 9.9%. This decline is thought to be due to the more mature nature of the current market and a lack of regular action from the very popular National Football League (NFL).

Nevertheless, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission proclaimed it has collected an imposing $118.56 million in total taxes and assessments from sports wagering activities since January 31, 2023. The regulator finished by noting the state’s eight-strong club of online sportsbooks had chalked up aggregated February gaming revenues of $51.8 million with a 10% hold, which resulted in a combined tax windfall of just beyond $10.4 million.