Twin River’s slots revenue is down since Mass. parlor opened
As expected.
John Taylor, the head of Lincoln, Rhode Island’s Twin River Casino, said last year that he expected revenue to dip about 10 percent when Massachusetts opened its first slots parlor. In the three months since Plainridge Park Casino opened in Plainville, Twin River has skirted under that projection.
According to Rhode Island Lottery data, Twin River’s slots revenue fell 9.7 percent year-over-year between July and September, the first three full months after Plainridge Park opened its doors just 23 miles away.
Unlike Plainridge Park, Twin River also offers table games. Revenue from those games has gone up by about 10 percent, or more than $2 million, compared to last year’s July to September period. Between slots and table games, Twin River has seen about a 6.3 percent yearly drop in gambling revenue since July.
“It is pretty much as John suggested, slightly better, and we just keep staying focused on ways we can improve the guest experience,’’ Twin River spokeswoman Patti Doyle said.
Clyde Barrow, a University of Texas-Rio Grande professor who has studied the New England casino industry, said Twin River will likely be able to maintain a grip on the market because it has more than 4,000 slots machines, while Plainridge Park hosts 1,250. Plainridge Park has netted $46 million in slots revenues since July, compared to about $110 million for Twin River.
Twin River’s slots revenues decreased by about 6 percent in July compared to the same month in 2014, about 14 percent in August, and 6 percent in September.
After a big first full month in July, Plainridge’s revenue has dropped each month. Through September the parlor is slightly under state regulators’ projections of $200 million for the year.
Barrow said he thinks the monthly figures at both establishments are stabilizing.
“I would expect we might see a little bit of volatility from month to month, but it’s hard to imagine that in the next three months these numbers are going to dramatically drop off,’’ he said.
Both Twin River and Plainridge Park figure to see their numbers affected when Massachusetts full resort casinos, including at least one in southeastern Massachusetts, open. According to The Providence Journal, Rhode Island officials have estimated Twin River could lose between 30 and 35 percent of its revenue when three resort casinos and a slots parlor are up and running in the Bay State, a prospect that is not expected before late 2018 at the earliest.
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