PROVIDENCE – Casino revenue in Massachusetts is falling short of estimates, the Boston Globe reported Monday.
Encore Boston Harbor is currently on pace to close its opening year $100 million behind initial projections at three months in operation while the MGM Springfield closed its first year in August $100 million under projections.
The Globe report said that Massachusetts’ fiscal 2020 revenue estimates for casino revenue are still on track to current projections.
Roughly $460 million in casino gambling has been collected by the state since the opening of Plainridge Park in 2015.
Why the revenue is falling behind projections wasn’t exactly clear.
Experts interviewed by the Globe cited multiple reasons why revenues could be underperforming, including increased regional competition, developers pitching rosy projections to win their casino deals from the state, a reluctance of consumers to spend money on gambling following the 2008 recession and the potential that companies underestimated how hard it would be to create new gambling consumers.
One expert also proffered that it might be too early to judge casino revenues, saying it can take a year and a half to fully determine whether a new casino is successful.
