MGM Springfield sees sports betting legalization as best opportunity for growth in 2020

"That advocacy is a major focus of ours in the first quarter," said former President Michael Mathis recently while talking about how 2020 might shape up for the $95 million resort casino in Springfield’s South End as it enters its third year of operation.

MGM Springfield will continue to face questions in 2020 with a new president, Chris Kelley, at the helm, the Mass Live reports. Gross gambling revenue is, according to state numbers, stagnant or falling. Employment at the casino is stuck at about 2,500. That’s 500 fewer workers than MGM promised the state and city it would hire as it campaigned for a gaming license.

Mathis said before his departure that MGM has had to adjust its headcount to match its needs and that MGM Springfield is constantly hiring for many of its jobs as it deals with attrition.

If sports betting happens, it would help MGM draw visitors and compete with sports betting operations that are already legal in neighboring states like New Hampshire, Rhode Island and New York. Rivers Casino in Schenectady, New York, advertises its sports betting with a billboard — visible only to eastbound drivers — on Interstate 90 near Westfield.

As reported to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission in January, MGM Springfield reported gross gambling revenue of $18.9 million in December — the lowest full-month revenue figure in the casino’s 16-month history.

The numbers follow gross gambling revenue of $19.9 million in November, which at the time was the second-lowest monthly total since the casino’s first full month of operation in September 2018. MGM Springfield reported gross gambling revenue of $21.6 million a year ago in December 2018.

Meanwhile, revenue was up at Encore Boston Harbor in Everett. Encore reported $13.5 million in gross gambling revenue in December 2019, making it the casino’s best month since its opening in June.

Mathis acknowledged the competition form Encore and elsewhere. But he said MGM is changing its marketing and offerings and plans to rely on more entertainment and events to draw crowds. He cited the Boston Red Sox Winter Weekend in January, which drew thousands to the MassMutual Center.

The casino hosted its first-ever professional boxing event in May 2019 and promises to continue booking fights.

And he pointed to constant tweaks to the mix of gambling, restaurant and attractions offered as part a promotion called “You said it. We did it.” In 2019, initiatives ran from the spectacular to the prosaic:

• Installed more signs on Interstate 91 and the Massachusetts Turnpike directing people to MGM Springfield
• Added Spanish 21, a blackjack variant
• Increased the number of roulette tables
• Offered $5 minimums on some table games from 6-9 a.m. on Mondays through Fridays
• Added weekend brunch at the Cal Mare restaurant
• Installed more promotional kiosks on the casino floor
• Presented MGM Live, a summer concert series, as well as live music in the Lobby Bar on Fridays and Saturdays
• Partnered with Greyhound to offer daily motor coach service to New York and Boston

MGM is having a positive impact on the region’s tourist economy as a whole, said Mary Kay Wydra, president of the Greater Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau.

According to a Visitors Bureau’s survey, that works out to an average of $572 spent per traveling party per day: $201 on lodging, $70 on shopping, $68 on transportation and gas, $57 at the casino, $32 on attractions, $30 on cultural activities and $51 on miscellaneous expenses.

“That’s a whole category of spending we didn’t even have before,” she said.

Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said MGM’s impact is best felt among downtown restaurants that say they benefit from the increased foot traffic.

Mathis had little to say about MGM’s corporate strategy of selling real estate and then leasing back the facility and operating it. Parent company MGM Resorts International has done that at its Bellagio Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip, and has said its real-estate divestment plans will likely include MGM Springfield.