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Date: 2/21/2023
SPRINGFIELD — MGM Springfield President Chris Kelley, Mayor Domenic Sarno’s Chief of Staff Tom Ashe and Ward 2 City Councilor and Casino Oversight Committee Chair Michael Fenton celebrated the expansion of several MGM Springfield amenities during a Feb. 16 press conference. The announcement follows a year-long process of scaling the casino back to its normal operations.
The reopening of casino amenities was initially unveiled during a Jan. 20 meeting between Sarno, Fenton, Kelley and MGM Resorts International CEO William Hornbuckle. Kelley and Hornbuckle revealed the casino is beginning to return many of its services throughout 2023.
“This is one of those days I’ve been looking forward to,” said Kelley at the press conference’s opening.
Kelly reflected on the MGM Springfield’s past year of growth. Following the removal of the city’s mask mandate in February 2022, the casino opened several dining amenities, such as Tap Sports Bar, the Italian restaurant Costa and the South End Market food court. With the initial openings of Tap Sports Bar and Costa limited hours for both sit-down restaurants were established.
With the Feb. 16 press conference, Kelly revealed the return of several casino amenities and the expansion of others. Below are the announced changes:
Tap Sports Bar will now have expanded lunch service. Their new hours are Thursday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Friday, Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. and Monday to Wednesday 4 to 11 p.m.
The Tap Sports Bar Bowling Lanes are now open. Their hours of availability are Monday through Thursday 4 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 to 11 p.m. and Sunday 12 to 8 p.m.
Costa will now be open on Sunday. The Italian restaurant is open Friday through Sunday from 5 to 10 p.m. New menu items include fettuccine bolognese with mascarpone, arancini with red pepper coulis, and New York strip steak with garlic confit.
The Roasted Bean is now fully operational after an initial opening in November 2022. The coffee and pastry shop is open seven days a week from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Topgolf Swing Suite debuted expanded hours on Feb. 17. The suite will now accept walk-in’s along with the group reservation service they previously offered during their initial 2022 reopening. New hours are Friday and Saturday 4 to 10 p.m. and Sunday 12 to 8 p.m.
“As you can see, we have been busy,” said Kelley.
Kelley championed MGM Springfield’s continued “comeback story.” He shared that the casino’s employee base has grown by 20 percent over the last year as they casino adjusts to a “challenging work force environment.”
Kelley expressed his optimism for the casino’s future as he concluded his press conference with a “cheers to tomorrow.”
Ashe offered remarks from Sarno. He applauded the MGM Springfield team for enacting on their promises to expand the casino’s services.
“We know this is a start, but it’s a great one … This is what we promised with MGM [Springfield] as a destination,” said Ashe.
Fenton expressed similar optimism about the casino’s growth. He considered MGM Springfield the “keystone” of rebirth for downtown and the South End of Springfield.
“This is a representation of the rebirth of the South End that continues to be trigged by MGM [Springfield],” said Fenton.
MGM Springfield also celebrated the debut of its sportsbook on Jan. 31.
According to the state’s monthly gambling revenue report, the casino earned $57,000 from sports bets during their opening day. The casino grossed a total of $22.85 million across January — its highest monthly sum since October 2022. Sportsbook services are expected to be expanded soon with the debut of online sports betting on March 10 across Massachusetts. MGM Springfield has yet to formally announce debut plans for their online application, BetMGM.
The MGM Springfield sportsbook, along with Encore Boston Harbor and Planridge Park Casino, did accept two illegal college sports bets during their first few weeks of operation. As part of the sports betting state law, sportsbooks are not allowed to take bets on in-state collegiate games unless during a tournament, such as the upcoming NCCA March Madness basketball tournaments.
The illegal MGM Springfield sports bets took place on Feb. 3 for the Harvard and Yale basketball game and Feb. 4 for the Harvard and Brown basketball game. Both infractions were self-reported by the casino.
Puppolo airs MGM Springfield concerns
While MGM Springfield honored several promises from its Jan. 20 meeting, state Rep. Angelo Puppolo believes that more work needs to be done in regard to the casino’s following of its host community agreement (HCA).
Puppolo addressed his concerns in a Feb. 14 letter sent to Hornbuckle. He posed several questions to the MGM International executive about HCA stipulations, such as how many employees work at the casino full-time, what percentage of full-time employees are minorities, what percentage of MGM Springfield employees are women and how many workers are from Springfield and other neighboring communities.
Puppolo also requested “a yearly breakdown of the monies” distributed to Springfield and other neighboring communities. He expressed in the letter that the state delegation has not been informed by MGM Springfield on several of these topics.
“I find it extremely unfortunate that the legislative delegation representing Western Massachusetts had not been kept abreast of developments regarding recent issues confronting MGM Springfield; and your admission of the vast underperformance of the current business model as presented to the citizens of this region,” said Puppolo.
Puppolo concluded his letter by calling for Hornbuckle to return to the area for a meeting with Western Massachusetts members of the state delegation.
During the Jan. 20 meeting, Hornbuckle confirmed that MGM Springfield has met its contractual financial obligations, including $107 million to Springfield and $347 million to the state via tax payments.
One area where MGM Springfield is readjusting its goals is its job projections. The resort touted the hiring of 3,000 employees when it first arrived in Springfield. Currently, the casino features 1,400 employees and 279 open positions, with Hornbuckle now eying 2,000 employees as a more realistic goal.
“We recognize the circumstance we are in … There is capacity in that building for 3,000 jobs, but it’s going to involve making Springfield more of a destination.” said Hornbuckle during the Jan. 20 meeting.
Hornbuckle admitted that challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic continue to impact the casino’s performance. He also said MGM International’s evaluation of the community’s economic vitality has not met the organization’s expectations.
“Our original valuation of this market simply was off, full stop … We thought there would be more business here than ultimately materialized,” said Hornbuckle.
During the Jan. 20 meeting, Sarno recognized several areas where the casino has honored its HCA. He highlighted several community projects the casino has been involved with, such as forming a partnership with Rachel’s Table and hosting Rock 102’s annual Mayflower Marathon for the first time in 2022. He said the casino is looking “to do more” community projects in the near future.
Sarno also applauded the positive spinoff effects MGM Springfield continues to have upon other downtown fixtures.
“You talk to any restaurateur or amenities [downtown] … places are packed, and that was a key thing,” said Sarno.
Despite some challenges, Sarno and Hornbuckle still believe in the future of MGM Springfield.
“We are starting to get our mojo back with MGM,” said Sarno.
“We will get it to a better place … but it will take some time. It will not happen overnight,” said Hornbuckle.