First Week at Encore Saw More Than $100 Million Wagered

State gaming numbers show that Encore Boston Harbor took in more than $100 million in wagers for the first seven days that it was open in June, generating $16.8 million in gross gaming revenues and $4.2 million in state taxes.

Those figures were just for seven days, and in that time, Encore nearly outperformed MGM Springfield for the entire month – with Springfield generating $19.9 million in gross gaming revenues in 30 days.

The $100 million figure includes the $93.5 million in coin-in revenues from slot machines and the total gross gaming revenues for table games.

Encore and Wynn Resorts said it – being a publicly traded company – could not comment on the revenue figures right now. They said they would comment on them in their next investor call for the entire company.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC), which tracks and reports the numbers, also did not wish to comment on the first revenue figures.

Mayor Carlo DeMaria said the numbers showed that the resort is attracting high-end customers and tourists.

“I am extremely pleased to see the strong results of the first week of operation of the Encore Resort,” said DeMaria. “This shows the resort is attracting the type of clientele and international tourists we had hoped would come to Everett and knew the quality and luxury of this resort is second to none. My hope is that more and more visitors will be drawn to Everett by our growing entertainment and hospitality industries.”

Councilor Michael McLaughlin, whose ward includes the Encore, said to see such numbers in seven days is impressive.

“I am very pleased to see such strong numbers coming out of Encore in just seven days,” he said. “I have always said that this project was about generating tax dollars, jobs and  improvements in infrastructure and putting our city back on the map. It has proven over the last month that those thoughts have come to fruition in a great way. The fact that this one development has already added $4-plus million in state taxes is a significant improvement that will only get better.”

The numbers dwarf those put up in the first eight days at MGM Springfield last August.

In its first eight days last August, the Springfield casino saw $74.7 million waged (which includes slot coin-in numbers plus the total table gross gaming revenues).

In that same period, MGM reported $9.45 million in gross gaming revenues, and $2.36 million in state taxes. That is compared to Encore’s $16.8 million in gross gaming revenues over seven – not eight – days.

The slot payout for Encore in June was 90.25 percent, and the casino held 9.75 percent. That is comparable to the state’s other properties, with Springfield at 91.59 percent in June, with a hold of 8.41 percent.

In its first days of opening, MGM Springfield’s slot payout was lower, at 89.88 percent.

Encore’s slot gross gaming revenues for the six days in June were $9.118 million.

While the numbers are good for the state tax coffers, and a great gauge for Everett to see how gaming is unfolding – none of those dollars come to the City directly. That’s because Everett’s host community agreement – unlike other host communities – is not tied to gross gaming revenues, but rather real estate taxes.

One of the most anticipated numbers yet to come will be the state and local meals taxes and the hotel excise taxes.

Those will be great indicators of how the non-gaming businesses are doing – with meals taxes showing how restaurants are performing, and hotel excise taxes giving an indicator of how full the rooms are each month.

Sources told the Independent that, at first glance on the meals taxes starting to come in, it appears the restaurants are doing quite well. However, official numbers have yet to come out.

Those taxes are collected from the resort by the state Department of Revenue and then distributed to Everett.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *