Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

April 21, 2020

Mohegan, Foxwoods March slot revenues tumble amid COVID-19 closure

By Joe Cooper

Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort Casino recorded steep declines in slot revenues last month after temporarily closing for the first time since they opened in the early 1990s because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 17, the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribal nations both agreed to close following Gov. Ned Lamont’s call to temporarily suspend operations to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The two-week closure last month caused Mohegan Sun’s slot revenues to plummet by 62% to $19.5 million compared to $51.1 million in the year-ago period, according to data posted Monday by the state Department of Consumer Protection's (DCP) Gaming Division.

The amount slot bettors wagered at Mohegan in March, known as the “handle,” was $240.4 million, also down sharply from $628.1 million a year earlier.

Meantime, Foxwoods, which announced CEO John J. James resigned effective immediately last week, posted March slot revenues of nearly $14 million, a year-over-year decrease of 65%, DCP data shows.

Foxwoods said its handle last month was $172.8 million, down from $489.3 million wagered a year ago.

MGE and Foxwoods are required by a gaming pact to pay 25% of their slot revenues to the state of Connecticut’s general fund. However, the state has said it will allow the tribal casinos to defer payments while they are closed during the public health crisis.

It’s not yet clear when the casinos, or Connecticut’s larger economy, will reopen.

In recent weeks, eastern Connecticut municipal officials have called on Lamont to allow the tribal casinos to offer online gambling while they are closed during the COVID-19 crisis. Lamont, however, has dismissed those requests.

Rodney Butler, the Pequots chairman, has said he hopes to eventually negotiate with Lamont’s administration about some form of online gambling due to the uncertainty of how long the coronavirus crisis will last.

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

Related Content

Thumbnail Mohegan to end management agreement with Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino Hotel
Thumbnail YNHH enters sports-sponsorship deal with WNBA club
Thumbnail Pokemoto to open new location at Foxwoods
Thumbnail Foxwoods announces launch of Wahlburgers restaurant

2 Comments

Anonymous
May 7, 2020

Need to be very cautious of how the casino is opened up. That leaves the tribe open to many possible private lawsuits which would be a travesty. Rodney has done an incredible job under the circumstances presented before him. Aj

Anonymous
April 22, 2020

Open the casinos up, it's on tribal land. Read the CEO of Wynn's plan and base the opening off of that. People will come

Order a PDF