Connecticut: tribal casinos see strong revenue in June

Two tribal casinos in Connecticut have revealed strong revenue from slots in June after the reopening of venues.

US.- Two tribal casinos in Connecticut have revealed figures for June reporting strong slot revenues in the first month of reopening after the three-month lockdown.

Foxwoods reported revenue of $33.6 million from slots, down just 4.9 per cent compared to $35.3 million in June 2019. Mohegan Sun took $45.5 million in slot machine revenue for June.

Through their revenue-sharing agreements, the casinos will pay $8.4 million and $11.3 million respectively to the state of Connecticut.

Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, which owns Foxwoods, said: “All things considered, it was a solid month, we’ve cautioned ourselves internally that what happened in June, don’t expect that for July because the demand is probably going to stay the same, and now you have more capacity with Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania opening up. And at some point, New York is going to open up.”

It has to be seen whether the strong recovery at the two tribal casinos continues competitors being to reopen. Both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun resumed operations on June 1 despite opposition from Governor Ned Lamont.

Jeff Hamilton, Mohegan Sun’s president and general manager, said the venue had taken measures to keep staff and visitors safe, installing acrylic dividers between table games, and requiring face masks to be worn, in order to attract players back.

Hamilton said: “Just because you’re open, if people don’t feel safe, they’re not going to come. What we’ve seen from our customer base is safety has now become the most important thing. People want to make sure that they are going to a clean environment.”