More than 16 weeks after gaming regulators ordered the three casinos in Massachusetts to shutdown, the casino floors will be allowed to reopen - under strict regulations.
Gov. Charlie Baker is set to announce today that casinos will be allowed to reopen as early as Monday as part of Phase 3 of the Massachusetts reopening plan, sources confirmed to MassLive.
The decision comes after the Massachusetts Gaming Commission approved a slew of reopening requirements last week.
Although casinos can reopen it’s unclear exactly when MGM Springfield and the Encore Boston Harbor properties will reopen. Sources indicate it will take some time for MGM Springfield to be ready to reopen under the new guidelines and the property will not open its doors on Monday.
The new guidelines include rules and recommendations for screening guests, including a requirement to make hand sanitizer available and a suggestion to conduct temperature checks. Social distancing guidelines for slots include a requirement that casinos turn off every other slot machine and remove chairs, and to either ensure a minimum of 6 feet between slot positions or install 6-foot-tall plexiglass dividers.
There are also reduced occupancy limits based on a formula for total patrons and employees. Commissioners believe the formula will reduce each facility’s capacity to about 25%.
Other minimum requirements for reopening include:
- Compliance with all guidance and protocols issued by local, state and federal governments and agencies.
- Developing a communications plan for informing guests of its COVID-19 precautions.
- At all significant points of entry and exit, separate ingress from egress in order to avoid two-way guest traffic flow.
- Casino staff to sanitize operating slot machines and chairs as frequently as possible between player turnover and at regular intervals, at a minimum of every 4 hours.
- Signage at each point of entry and at prominent locations throughout the gaming area to remind guests of safe practices including frequent hand washing, use of hand sanitizer, proper wearing of masks, and to go home if sick.
Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park were ordered to shutdown in mid-March. Casino operators say they will need 10 to 14 days notice in order to ramp back up.
Following the shutdowns, thousands of casino workers were furloughed.
Encore Boston Harbor announced furloughs for 3,000 employees this week.
Wynn Resorts, the casino’s parent company, put off furloughs after closing on March 15 in light of the coronavirus pandemic, paying the roughly 4,200 employees who work at the $2.6 billion Everett casino. The company spent $3 million a day, or roughly $220 million between mid-March and May, to continue paying its employees, the company said.
MGM Springfield told state labor officials in May that it will lay off as many as 1,887 employees at the end of August.
The Springfield casino had just over 2,000 employees earlier this year.
In a letter obtained by MassLive in May, Acting Chief Executive Bill Hornbuckle said the company is in the midst of “the most challenging period ever faced” by the company.
Hornbuckle said when employees were first furloughed in March, MGM hoped a significant portion of its operations would “bounce back” by the summer.
“However, we are realistic in our understanding that domestic and international travel will remain limited for some time,” Hornbuckle said. “We believe that demand for travel will be significantly decreased for the remainder of 2020 and could continue through the early part of next year.”
Amid operational shutdowns, MGM furloughed nearly 63,000 workers, leaving the company with a skeleton crew of its roughly 70,000-person staff in the United States.
Employees will remain furloughed through the end of August, when their employment will be end if they are not rehired by Aug. 31. Hornbuckle did not specify how many of its furloughed workers would be laid off.
“We now believe that some of our colleagues may not return to work this year,” Hornbuckle wrote. “And, given the continued uncertainty facing our industry, we simply don’t know just how many employees will return to work within the coming months.”
All furloughed employees enrolled in the company health plan will have their benefits extended through August 31 with no employee contributions for premiums.
Massachusetts casinos will be among the final in the nation to reopen following coronavirus shutdowns.
In neighboring Connecticut, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe reopened Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun at the beginning of June. Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island opened on Tuesday. Rivers Casino & Resort in Schenectady, New York, remains closed.
Casinos in Las Vegas were allowed to reopen as early as June 4.
MGM reopened Mandalay Bay and Aria on Wednesday. The company requires all employees and guests to wear masks inside public spaces at every MGM property across the U.S.
“As part of our work to continually update and evolve our health and safety policies, we are now requiring masks for all guests and visitors inside public spaces,” the company said in a statement released last week. “If a guest is in need of a mask, we will provide one. We hope that our guests will do their part to help the collective efforts to curtail the spread of the virus. Guests who do not wish to comply will be asked to leave the property.”