Encore Casino In Everett Expects 8 Million Visitors A Year
BOSTON, MAY 2, 2019 (State House News Service) - Having secured its Massachusetts casino license, Wynn Resorts on Wednesday evening said it is now focused on "bringing Greater Boston and New England a luxury hospitality and entertainment experience unlike anything the region has ever seen."
With the opening of its $2.6 billion Las Vegas-style resort casino in Everett on the calendar for June 23, the company has been working to recruit, hire and train a workforce of 5,500 employees while Massachusetts regulators weighed the fate of an operator they had serious concerns about.
The Gaming Commission's ruling Tuesday to fine Wynn Resorts $35 million but allow it to keep the license appears to have cleared the way for the state's second full-scale casino.
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"Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox and the Board of Directors have worked diligently to make the important and necessary changes to the Company's corporate leadership, governance, compliance programs and Human Resources policies," the company said in a statement. "With the Massachusetts Gaming Commission review complete, our company is now focused on a successful launch of Encore Boston Harbor, and the recruiting and training of 5,500 team members who will be bringing Greater Boston and New England a luxury hospitality and entertainment experience unlike anything the region has ever seen."
In a press release on its website, the casino boasts "[t]here is no place in the world like Encore Boston Harbor," which sits on 33 formerly contaminated acres along the Mystic River in Everett. The 27-story hotel will include 671 rooms (104 of them luxury suites), 15 restaurants, spa, convention center, and a public harborwalk and park.
The gaming floor will be "magnificent" and include more than 4,000 "gaming positions," the company says.
"At 210,000 square feet, the casino has been envisioned with grandeur in mind, featuring 242 table games and 3,158 classic and state-of-the-art slot machines. Around this space you will find luxurious, secluded terraces that offer high-end poker, VIP and private-gaming experiences," the casino's main website says. "We've also recruited the finest dealers and hosts throughout the U.S. to further elevate your casino play."
The company expects to receive about eight million visitors a year -- "more than the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, and Patriots combined," it says in the press release -- and the state looks set to bake about $100 million in revenue from the casino into its next budget.
The state's 2011 expanded gambling law permits up to three resort casinos and one slots facility. It's up to the Gaming Commission to decide whether to seek a resort casino operator in the southeastern region, to complement the casinos in Everett and Springfield, and the slots facility in Plainville.