The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has revealed the August earnings for the Encore Boston Harbor, the second full month the venue has been in operation. The property continues to do well, increasing their bottom line, but slot machines are still struggling. Wynn Resorts must find a way to drive slot revenues if the increases are to continue.
August Totals
For the month, the Encore Boston Harbor was able to earn $52.4 million. This was a nice increase from the $48.6 million earned in July. The hotel and casino first opened as June came to an end after costing $2.6 billion to construct. The property has just over 143 table games and over 3,000 slot machines on-site.
The majority of the August totals came from table game revenues, with $32.2 million earned. The slots generated far less at $20 million. The amount is still massive in the grand scheme of things, but in general, it is slots that tend to create more revenues for a gaming venue. For the property, the overall gaming revenues were up almost $4 million more than the previous month, but slot gaming dropped by close to $1 million.
Working on Slot Games
For now, the casino will need to figure out how to improve the performance of the slot machines in the market, which is currently highly competitive. President of the property, Bob DeSalvio, commented that the venue is looking at ways to improve the performance of slot machines. As far as table games are concerned, the venue will be adding more tables, so those numbers are not expected to go down any time soon.
According to Matt Maddox, the Wynn Resorts CEO, the company as well as the team in Massachusetts is looking at offers and promotions to try and understand the competitive slot market in the northeast.
The Encore Boston Harbor is in competition with nearby Plainridge Park Casino, a slots-only facility located in Plainville as well as the MGM Springfield. For Plainridge Park, the property brought in just over $12 million in slot revenues. This was a decrease from the previous month.
For MGM Springfield, the casino earned just over $20 million with slot games contributing to around $15.6 million of that amount. So, the Encore remains at a higher earnings point when comparing the two other properties but are still essentially struggling to gain a foothold in the slot machine market.
We shall see what the property comes up with as a way to drive traffic to their slot games. Will it be promotions or special offers that pull players from other venues to the Encore? Or will the slot games continue to struggle while the table games are bringing in the majority of the monthly earnings? Only time will tell, but overall, the venue is bringing in strong numbers which helps it to be a top reporting casino in the state.
