Representatives for Wynn and for the City of Everett said the possibility of an expansion of gambling is in keeping with the intent of the voters’ approval of the casino in a 2013 referendum.Ĭommission members started to discuss last month whether the voters’ overwhelming support for a casino at the former Monsanto site, where the casino was built, should count as an endorsement for gambling across the street. Now, Wynn finds itself arguing to the commission that the new building should be regulated as part of the casino after all. Wynn eventually scaled back the size of the theater to 980 seats, even though the company at the time had argued the land across the street shouldn’t be considered part of the casino. Rival theater operators were worried about the competition, and pointed to a provision in the state’s gaming law that bans event venues with 1,000 to 3,500 seats from being built on casino properties. The company first proposed an 1,800-seat events venue there. Wynn had initially insisted that there would be no gambling on that side of Broadway, during its early planning for the block. He said the second phase, with the hotels, would bring another $10.8 million a year in revenue to the city, on top of roughly $3 million in lodging taxes. Matt Lattanzi, Everett’s planning director, said he estimates the first phase would generate $3.6 million a year in new property taxes (or payments in lieu of taxes, depending on the eventual legal structure). Now Wynn Resorts and city officials are seeking approval from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to expand gaming into new buildings being planned across the street. Big Night plans to relocate its Memoire nightclub from the casino to the club space in the new building - in part to make way for the overhead passageway and to take advantage of the larger venue, newer technology, and outdoor decks.Įverett voters in 2013 approved what would become Encore Boston Harbor casino on the site of an old Monsanto plant along Broadway in Everett. The gaming commission awarded Wynn the state’s first sports betting license last week Wynn plans to offer sports bets in the casino and eventually, if the gaming commission agrees, in the new building as well.īig Night Entertainment Group will run most of the operations in the new building, excluding the poker and sports betting. The block would be connected to the main casino via a pedestrian bridge over Broadway (Route 99). This first phase includes a 2,100-space parking garage, a sports bar, a poker room, a nightclub that can fit nearly 1,000 people, a roof-deck “day club,” a 980-seat theater, and a 200-seat comedy club. Mohegan Sun lost out to Wynn Resorts in the competition for the Boston-area casino license in Massachusetts.Wynn has made headway in local permitting with the project’s first phase: Everett’s planning board approved a site plan last week, and the city council could vote Monday on a required zoning change to allow gambling to take place there. The expansion plans currently calls for a poker room and a sports betting facility, but no slots. The two Connecticut casinos don’t disclose their table game revenues because the state collects taxes only on the slots receipts.Įncore is seeking to expand gambling across the street to a proposed new entertainment facility across the street. “Their table games are outperforming the percentage of gaming revenue from other markets,” DeBole said.Īccording to DeBole, Encore took in more slot revenue in December than the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut ($29 million) but trailed Mohegan Sun, the other Connecticut casino ($42.8 million). Most casinos generate two-thirds of their gambling revenue from slots and a third from table games, he said, but Encore’s take is split almost equally. Paul DeBole, an assistant professor of pollical science at Lasell University who follows the gaming industry, said Encore is somewhat of an anomaly in the casino business because of its unusually high take from table games. Plainridge, a slots parlor, reported $12.3 million in revenue. MGM reported $22.4 million in December gambling revenue, $17.6 million from slots and $4.8 million from table games. The take from table games was the highest since August 2019, when the casino took in $32.2 million. Overall, Encore reported $68.4 million in gambling revenue in December, with $34.9 million from slots and $33.4 million from table games.
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