Encore Boston Harbor CEO Robert DeSalvio called the new Everett casino’s first three weeks in business a success, saying numbers indicate that the new entertainment destination had a strong financial start.
“We had a wonderful opening, as you know, and the general reaction from the public has been terrific,” he told Jim Braude on Greater Boston Thursday. “However, I will tell you that it takes a while to ramp up and build these properties up to full potential … it will come over time, but so far, so good.”
The much-hyped $2.6 billion project has predicted $800 million in revenue in the first year of operation, with 25 percent of that going to the commonwealth in taxes, as per state law. Desalvio said that while it is “way too early to tell” whether the casino is on track to meet those goals, the data for the first eight days of business operations should be released by the Gaming Commission next week.
State officials have made a more conservative prediction of revenue for the casino: $542 million.
DeSalvio also addressed other public concerns that came up prior to the opening: Diversity in hiring, preventing problem gambling, and traffic. The company tried to be “as inclusive as possible during the hiring process,” he said, adding that 52 percent of the casino's employees are people of color.
In terms of gambling addiction concerns, DeSalvio pointed to the new state program called “GameSense,” which places advisers on the casino floor who can speak with anyone who thinks they may have a problem. DeSalvio credited the Massachusetts Legislature for coming up with the idea.
He also said that he would cooperate with any study by the state Gaming Commission to measure who might be most negatively impacted by gambling there. State gaming commissioner Cathy Judd-Stein told Jim Braude and Margery Eagan on Boston Public Radio last month that her agency would consider potentially doing such a study.
As for traffic concerns, DeSalvio said that overall, customers heeded the casino's advice to use alternative modes of transportation. In the Casino's first two weeks, he said, more than 100,000 people used the free shuttles from the Wellington and Malden Center MBTA stops, and the neighborhood shuttle through Everett that connects to the Silver Line.
When asked about Sullivan Square, which some have worried will become more congested in the long-run due to the casino, DeSalvio said that Encore just completed a $16 million project there to install new traffic lights and redesign the traffic flow.
“For the first time ever, Sullivan Square is now connected to the Boston Transportation Department central command center, so that’s a big help, and that allows us to adjust the lights,” he said. “We [also] actually connected Boston to Everett, and all the lights up and down Broadway are connected back to Boston’s central system.”
Encore Boston Harbor's opening followed Wynn Resorts' — the casino's parent company — troubled path to breaking ground. The company was famously fined $35 million in April for its handling of sexual assault and rape accusations against previous Wynn CEO, Steven Wynn, who stepped down from his post last year. He has denied all allegations against him. The name of the casino, originally slated to be Wynn Boston Harbor, was also changed as a result.
This article has been updated.
