June represented a down month for Massachusetts casinos.
Gross gaming revenue (GGR) totaled $96.1 million in June, marking the third straight month Massachusetts casinos fell below $100 million. This was a 1.9% dip from May when casinos reported just under $98 million in GGR.
It was also the third month in a row in which GGR fell from the previous year. Casinos reported $100.6 million in GGR in June 2023, a 4.5% year-over-year decline. Monthly tax contributions were $27.3 million.
June’s revenue brought Fiscal Year 2024 GGR to $1.18 million, a 0.2% improvement from FY 2023.
Massachusetts casino revenue falls to $96.1 million in June 2024
Massachusetts is one of the smallest US states area-wise and offers just three retail casinos within its 10,554-square-mile territory. It ranks 16th by population, with around 7 million residents, but Massachusetts online casinos are prohibited by law.
Despite the recent slide in casino revenue, the Bay State’s FY 2024 total reached $1,181,366,712. This was just $2.9 million more than FY 2023, when the commonwealth’s casinos reported $1,178,428,801 in GGR.
Fiscal Year taxes amounted to $333.9 million, a 1% improvement over FY 2023’s $330.7 million.
Encore Boston Harbor leads MA in GGR despite YoY decline
Encore Boston Harbor has been the largest casino in Massachusetts since its opening on June 23, 2019.
It held a 62.8% revenue share this June, up 0.4% from the May Massachusetts casino report. Encore had $60.4 million in slot and table GGR, representing an 8.8% decline from June 2023 tied directly to hit at the tables.
Table games revenue accounted for $25.5 million, down 18.1% year over year from $30.7 million. Meanwhile, slots GGR totaled $34.9 million, a 0.3% gain from Encore’s $34.8 million in June 2023.
MGM Springfield earned a 22.8% market share in June, reporting $21.9 million in GGR (-1.3% YoY from $22.2 million). Slots ($17.5 million; -1.2% YoY) and table games ($4.4 million; -1.6% YoY) GGR declined by $216K and $72K year over year, respectively.
Plainridge Park Casino (PPC), the sole Category 2 (slots only) facility in Massachusetts, amassed the remaining 14.3% market share. Its $13.8 million in slots GGR represented nearly 7% year-over-year growth, making it the only operator to outperform June 2023’s revenue.
Plainridge Park logs lowest revenue, makes second-highest tax contribution
PPC generates the lowest revenue of the three Massachusetts casinos, even if you remove table games from Encore and MGM’s bottom lines. That said, its tax contributions rank second in the state according to the June MGC report.
As a Category 2 facility, the state taxes PPC’s slot GGR at 49%. It taxes Category 1 facilities (Encore and MGM) at 25%.
As such, PPC paid $6.8 million in June gaming taxes. That amounts to 24.7% of the state’s tax bill for its 14.3% market share.
The breakdown of market share versus FY 2024 revenue and taxes are as follows for Massachusetts’ three casinos:
| Casino | Gross Gaming Revenue | Market Share | Taxes Paid | Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encore Boston Harbor | $750.3 Million | 63.5% | $187.6 Million | 56.2% |
| MGM Springfield | $270.6 Million | 22.9% | $67.6 Million | 20.3% |
| Plainridge Park Casino | $160.5 Million | 13.6% | $78.7 Million | 23.6% |
Category 1 and Category 2 taxes go to different means, too.
Category 1 taxes contribute to 12 different funds, including local aid (20%), transportation and infrastructure (15%), education (14%), debt and long-term liability reduction (10%) and accelerated debt and defeasance (10%).
Meanwhile, Category 2 taxes contribute to two funds: local aid (82%) and the state’s race horse development fund (18%).
How much room is left for Massachusetts gambling growth?
Massachusetts’s three casinos first surpassed $1 billion in GGR during Fiscal Year 2022 and have grown year over year since then. However, FY 2024’s growth was much smaller than FY 2023.
- FY 2022: $1,109,769,579
- FY 2023: $1,178,428,801
- FY 2024: $1,181,366,712
The Massachusetts casino industry is relatively young. Its casinos opened in 2015 (PPC), 2018 (MGM Springfield) and 2019 (Encore Boston Harbor).
Encore’s opening boosted Massachusetts GGR to new highs, but the state needed to recover from the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 before eyeing the $1 billion mark.
Now, it looks back at a three-year plateau with GGR above $1.1 billion but below $1.2 billion.
That plateau will likely be the ceiling, too, unless the state decides to expand its gaming industry. If it does, a new retail casino will move the bottom line but in a limited fashion.
Online casinos will truly move the needle.
Unfortunately, reports from last year predict that online casino legislation will move about as quickly (read slowly) as sports betting legislation. One expert believes MA online lotteries will come first and will take several years to come to fruition, meaning online casinos might not join the fray until the end of this decade or early in the next.
