Overabundance of Casinos Is a Crap Shoot [PHIL-OSOPHY]

If the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe successfully gets a casino in Taunton, the area could turn uncomfortably full with casino bloat. Where are all the gambling customers going to come from?

The newest casino, Encore Boston Harbor, will be open in mid-June. That property will siphon players from MGM in Springfield, Foxwoods, Mohegan Sun, and to a lesser degree, Plainridge Park and the two Rhode Island casinos. My point being, there's just so much water the glass can hold. If you start dividing it up too much, you get something mediocre, and not outstanding.

I was just reading that MGM Springfield's April gambling revenue dipped 15 percent from the previous month. Plainridge Park Casino reported $14 million in slot revenue in April, down from $15.9 million the month before, and if Taunton gets a casino, it will be interesting to see how the revenues are spread out.

Add to this news, the Connecticut legislature recently gave the green light for an additional casino to be built very close to Springfield's MGM property, hoping to decrease the Massachusetts gross gaming revenue, and in short time you've got yourself something bursting at the seams.

By the way, MGM told the state it expected $418 million in annual gross gaming revenue in the first year, or $34.8 million per month. The highest one-month take was only $26.9 million in September.

I can remember not that long ago when we had only Foxwoods, and at the time it was the world's most successful casino. Today, I fear the rapid ballooning of too many casinos will mean someone's going to drop a bundle.

Phil Paleologos is the host of The Phil Paleologos Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Contact him at phil@wbsm.com and follow him on Twitter @PhilPaleologos. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.