Gaming centers haul in nearly $100M in July

Worcester Business Journal
 
Gaming centers haul in nearly $100M in July
Wild Casino

The state's three gaming centers raked in nearly $100 million in gross gaming revenue last month with more than $27.6 million bound for the state's coffers, the Gaming Commission announced Monday.

Of the $99 million that Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor counted as gaming revenue in July, the lion's share came from Encore. The Everett casino took in $64.7 million -- a little more than $35 million from slot machines and $29.67 million from table games. MGM Springfield, the only other full-scale casino in the state, reported July revenue of $21.5 million. More than $17.27 million of that came from slot machines in Springfield.

Encore's monthly revenue translates into just more than $16.18 million in taxes and fees for the state, while MGM's monthly gaming revenue means about $5.39 million for the state's coffers. Encore and MGM are each taxed at a rate of 25 percent of gross gaming revenue and the money collected is split into various buckets, like local aid, the Transportation Infrastructure Fund, and an education fund.

The slots parlor at Plainridge Park Casino counted about $12.5 million in revenue in July, which works out to almost $6.13 million in taxes and fees for the state. Plainridge Park pays a 49 percent tax on its gross gaming revenue, with 82 percent of what is collected earmarked for local aid and the remaining 18 percent allotted to the state's Race Horse Development Fund.

In all, the state can expect just more than $27.68 million in gaming tax revenue and fees from July gambling activity. Since Plainridge opened in June 2015, Massachusetts has collected more than $1.155 billion from casino-style gambling.