MGM Springfield is “surrounded by other casinos and that’s one thing Encore is not.” “As Willie Sutton said, ‘The reason I rob banks is because that’s where the money is’ - well, there’s a lot more money in the Boston area than there is in the Springfield area, let’s be perfectly blunt about where the money is, and the typical person is not going to be going from Boston to Springfield when they can go to Encore,” said McGowan. He pointed out that Encore derives more money from its table games than slot machines, which is the opposite of Springfield, where “day-hoppers” who play the slots have accounted for 70 percent of MGM gaming revenues since it opened.

In order for MGM Springfield to survive, said McGowan, it has to differentiate itself from its local competition rather than pretend to offer an equal draw against Encore Boston. The poor performance by the Springfield casino could be further reason for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to hold off approving a license to a third casino, in the southeastern corner of the state. I would imagine MGM figured they had to bring in somebody new to do that.”

“Clearly, if Springfield is going to make it, they’ve got to somehow, one way or another, make themselves much more of an entertainment center than a gambling center. Mathis “was much more focused on gambling, period,” he added.

Mgm springfield theater