MGM Springfield’s sportsbook in Massachusetts has celebrated its first anniversary, surpassing expectations with around 150,000 bets placed on sporting events.
Robert Westerfield, vice president of casino operations at MGM Springfield, told Spectrum News that interest in the facility had exceeded projections.
“It’s been higher than we expected,” he said. “The response from the community, from the guests coming in, from the volumes of people that we’ve had, the numbers have been more than we expected. We’ve approximately taken in about 150,000 bets over the past year, but we’ve just continued to grow.”
The casino recently appointed Louis Theros as president and chief operating officer after the departure of president Chris Kelley this winter. Theros spoke about the effect of regulated gambling on 22News.
“It’s always going to be safer the longer you do it, the more we regulate it, and the more people understand really how it does work; we really want to have people think of MGM Springfield as the destination spot when they come to Springfield and western Mass,” he said.
With the Super Bowl on the horizon, the casino believes it will break last year’s record for in-person bets on the game.
“Betting on who’s going to throw for 250 yards, who’s going to catch the first pass, things like that, the obscure bets,” Westerfield said. “We’re getting a lot of that action right now, so it’ll be interesting as game time comes, and like everybody else, they’re going to wait more toward the end, see where the line is before they make their calculated choice. But we’re getting a lot of action already, which is really impressive.”
The BetMGM Sportsbook and Lounge features 18 sports betting kiosks, five betting windows and an on-site bar, among other amenities.
