By Josh Resnek
Encore numbers had been steam rolling to the $70 million mark before January and February.
In November and December, Encore’s figures toyed with the $70 million a month. Annualized, that would come in at $800-$850 billion for the year – an incredible achievement of the first order for a casino company operating in Massachusetts.
February’s figures were down again from the highs of November and December, but remained consistent with January’s, coming in at about $62 million.
My weekly visits to the casino reveal crowds and excitement everywhere and especially on Thursdays, Fridays Saturdays and Sundays. Nowhere has the excitement been more palpable than in the sports betting area where huge televisions and large, energetic crowds of Boston sporting fans watch great sporting events while at the same time placing bets on them.
With the BIG EAST national college basketball tournament coming up at Madison Square Garden, expectations are for huge numbers to be generated by legions of excited sports bettors at Encore and with the other sports betting outfits allowed to operate in Massachusetts. This can be taken to the bank.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission released figures last week showing how sports betting took off during its first month in service in Massachusetts.
Current and future wages came to 25.7 million from which the state collected $301K from added sports revenues.
Compare this to the take at three other Massachusetts casinos, Encore, MGM, and Plainridge, which added up to $100 million, of which 62.7 million was generated by Encore alone!
Sports betting by state revealed New York at the top of the heap with 1.47 billion.
Massachusetts came in ninth with $25.7 million.