The Massachusetts Gaming Commission posted on Monday information about the financial performance of Plainridge Park Casino in October. The state’s first licensed gambling venue generated gross gaming revenue of $12.9 million last month.
Under the Massachusetts gambling regulations, the slots parlor has to pay a 49% tax on its gaming revenue to the state. Of those, 82% go for local aid and 18% go to the state’s Race Horse Development Fund. Last month, the amount of $5.2 million was contributed to local aid initiatives and $1.2 million went to the organization supporting the Massachusetts’ horse racing industry.
The gambling regulator announced on Monday that the state has collected a total of $31.9 million in gaming taxes from the facility since it opened doors on June 24. Since its launch, the Category 2 gaming venue has paid $29 million to aid cities and towns and $3 million to the state’s horse racing industry.
Revenue at Plainridge Park Casino dropped about 1% last month. In fact, October was the third consecutive month of revenue decline at the Category 2 slots parlor. Given this, the venue may not be able to meet the initial expectations of full-year revenue of $200 million. During the first four months of operation, Plainridge Park Casino generated an overall of $58.8 million, which suggests annual turnover of $176 million.
Average daily revenue per slot machine amounted to $277 last month, down from the $280 posted for September, the $327 in August, and the $389 in July. The venue generated daily revenue per slot machine of $580 in the first week of its operations. Plainridge Park Casino has 1,500 slot and other gaming machines at its premises.
As mentioned above, October revenue totaled $12.9 million compared to the amount of $12.6 reported for September. Given the fact that October is a day longer than September, the figures for the last month actually represented a drop of almost 1%.
Commenting on the posted results, Plainridge Park Casino General Manager Lance George said that it is not uncommon for revenue to “taper down” a little after a gambling venue’s official opening. The executive added that they expect the results to stabilize and that the latest figures are completely in line with their expectations.
