Casinos report modest declines in August slots revenues

Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun reported relatively modest year-over-year declines in their August slot-machine revenues today.

Foxwoods’ “win” – the amount of slots wagers it kept after paying out prizes – totaled $50.5 million last month, a 3.3 percent decline over August 2011. Mohegan Sun’s August win of $56.3 million was down 6.0 percent.

“Our August results demonstrate a trend toward market stabilization as our slot revenue steadies to within a narrow range of $50 million a month,” Scott Butera, Foxwoods’ president and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Jeffrey Hartmann, Mohegan Sun's president and CEO, attributed his casino's August decline in revenue to "a still challenging economy and increased competition from the New York market."

Both casinos experienced double-digit declines in slots revenue in July. The smaller declines in August likely reflect in part the fact that August 2011’s revenues were adversely affected by Tropical Storm Irene, which hit the Northeast the weekend of Aug. 26-28.

Foxwoods experienced some disruptions in power and service that weekend.