Casinos’ slots revenue was down in June

Foxwoods Resort Casino reported Friday that its slot revenue declined 8.4 percent last month, while Mohegan Sun’s slots revenue was down 2.3 percent.

Figures showed Foxwoods “won,” or kept, $35.3 million in slots wagers after paying out prizes, down from $38.6 million in June 2015. Mohegan Sun kept $45.7 million last month compared to $46.7 million in the same month last year.

Last month’s win totals were the lowest the casinos had recorded since February 2015.

Mohegan Sun appeared to get no bump in slots revenue from the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction that filled Mohegan Sun Arena over three days in late June.

The event attracted more than 90,000 people, making it the best-attended event in arena history.

“It was a very successful event, but when you look at the whole month, it was just three days,” Ray Pineault, Mohegan Sun’s president and general manager, said.

Pineault attributed Mohegan Sun’s year-over-year decline in slots revenue to a reduction in the number of public shows in the arena. In June 2015, the arena hosted 10 such shows while only three were held there this June, he said.

In addition to public shows, the arena hosts “private” shows exclusively for selected customers. The arena hosted two such shows last month, none in June 2015.

Pineault said the Barrett-Jackson event attracted many “new players” who signed up for the casino’s loyalty program.

“We learned a lot about how to market it,” he said of the auction, which will be returning to Mohegan Sun for the next four years.

Mohegan Sun paid $11.4 million of its June slots win to the state, bringing its contribution for the 2016 fiscal year, which ended June 30, to $147.4 million. That’s slightly more than its fiscal 2015 contribution of $146.7 million.

Foxwoods paid the state $8.9 million last month. Its fiscal 2016 payments totaled $118.5 million, a 2.3 percent decrease over its $121.3 million contribution the previous year.