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16 Hartford Business Journal • January 21, 2019 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Joe Cooper jcooper@hartfordbusiness.com F ive-month-old MGM Springfield has poached revenues from Connecti- cut's two tribally owned ca- sinos, but the impact hasn't been as bad as originally projected, local casino executives say. Since MGM opened in Sep- tember, slot- machine revenues at Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun have fallen about 7.1 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively, following years-long declines that have been fueled by changing consumer hab- its and the opening of competing East Coast gambling venues in Rhode Island, eastern Massachusetts and New York. However, Foxwoods and Mohegan say their entertainment and hotel business- es thus far remain unscathed by MGM entering the New England market. That's led to a boastful attitude by local casino executives who have clashed with MGM in recent years on several fronts, including the state's ef- forts to open a third gaming facility in Connecticut. Mohegan and Foxwoods have received state approval to open a joint casino in East Windsor, which MGM has lobbied strongly against. "Based on their own comments, they were bringing entertainment to New England like nobody has ever seen, and that's just not happening," said Foxwoods Interim CEO Rodney Butler of MGM's highly publicized grand opening. "They had some great shows to kick off the season, but I haven't seen much going on up there since." Michael Mathis, MGM Springfield's president and chief operating officer, pushed back against Butler's charac- terizations. In a statement, Mathis said the new casino has received an "extraordinary response" since its debut, offering New England's first integrated luxury resort and entertain- ment complex. As evidence, Mathis cited MGM's suc- cessful opening weekend, when it welcomed 150,000-plus guests to down- town Springfield. "We continue to grow the market with solid visitor volumes through- out our resort," Mathis said. "Our casino, hotel and restaurants continue to reflect impressive numbers of guests eager to experience what our new resort has to offer. Visitors from across the region are responding well to the breadth of our overall entertainment strategy and dynamic programming." MGM Springfield was feared to take a big bite out of Connecticut casino operations, which is significant be- cause the state receives a 25 percent cut of their slot revenues. In fact, a 2016 report by the state Of- fice of Fiscal Analysis projected the ar- rival of MGM would cost the state $68 million in annual revenue. That's on top of steep gaming revenue declines Mohegan and Foxwoods have already experienced in recent years. Butler and Ray Pineault, Mohegan's president and general manager, said area casino-goers will likely tryout MGM's new $960 million complex over the next year, but they expect to win back many of those guests. Butler said Foxwoods anticipated its monthly gaming revenues would fall up to 10 percent once MGM opened. From September through December, its seen monthly slot revenues decline 7.1 per- cent; it doesn't publicly report the perfor- mance of its overall gaming business. Still, that has cost Foxwoods almost $11 million in revenue compared to the same four-month period in 2017. Mohegan's slot revenues have fallen $13 million from Sept. 2018 to Dec. 2018, compared to the year-ago period. Meantime, MGM in September, its first full month in operation, reported gaming revenues (including both slots and table games) of nearly $27 million, but it's seen a decline since then, posting $22.2 million in October, $21.2 million in November and $21.5 million in December. Entertainment unchanged Despite MGM's assumed impact on gaming, the luxury resort's use of nearby MassMutual Center in down- town Springfield for concerts has not hurt entertainment venues at Mohegan or Foxwoods, local casino executives say. Ticket sales at the 10,000-seat Holding the Line Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun say MGM Springfield taking less gaming revenue than expected Mohegan Sun & Foxwoods slot revenues Mohegan Sun slot revenue (in millions) Foxwoods slot revenue (in millions) 2017 2018 Percent Change 2017 2018 Percent Change September $51.8 $47.2 -8.8% $40.1 $38 -5.2% October $47.7 $42.6 -10.6% $38.3 $34.5 -10% November $47.5 $44.3 -6.8% $38.4 $35.3 -8% December $50 $49.8 -0.5% $39 $37 -5.2% Source: Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods Resort Casino Mohegan Sun (shown above) and Foxwoods have seen lower gaming revenues since MGM Springfield opened in August. Ray Pineault, President and General Manager, Mohegan Sun PHOTO | HBJ FILE