Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun suffer another down month

Year-over-year declines not as steep as ones in October, November

Foxwoods Resort Casino’s slot-machine revenue declined by 5.2 percent last month while Mohegan Sun’s was down by less than 1 percent, figures released Tuesday show.

The year-over-year declines were more modest than those the casinos experienced in October and November.

In December, Foxwoods “won,” or kept, $37 million in slots winnings after paying out prizes — $2 million less than it won in December 2017. Mohegan Sun won $49.8 million last month, a year-over-year decline of less than $300,000.

Foxwoods’ slots “handle” — the total amount wagered before prizes were paid out — was $480.4 million last month, down 1.5 percent, while Mohegan Sun’s handle of $632.9 million was up by less than 1 percent.

Foxwoods paid $9.6 million of its December slots win to the state. Mohegan Sun paid $12.4 million.

In Massachusetts, gaming regulators reported Tuesday that MGM Springfield won $14.3 million in slots revenue in December, up from $13.4 million the previous month. The casino, located a few miles north of the Connecticut border, opened in late August and had its best month in September, when it won $18.1 million in slots revenue.

MGM Springfield also won $7.3 million in table-games revenue in December. The Connecticut casinos do not report table-games revenue on a monthly basis.

Ray Pineault, Mohegan Sun’s president and general manager, said he was happy with his casino’s December slots revenue. He noted that the casino lost two big entertainment dates during the month when Justin Timberlake was forced to cancel Mohegan Sun Arena performances scheduled for Dec. 21-22. The shows have been rescheduled for April 12-13.