Two years after the long shadow of Covid darkened casinos nationwide, the MGM Springfield is looking at a brighter future. So says the casino’s president, Chris Kelley, who arrived at that post in March 2020— just as the pandemic wave came crashing down and casinos were forced to close their doors.
Learning from that situation was part of the process of coming back, says Kelley. That included dealing with capacity restrictions, eliminating many amenities such as live entertainment and alcoholic beverage service, social distancing requirements. He told CDC Gaming Reports, “It was a learning curve for us to operate under conditions like that and a learning curve for our guests as well to learn how to engage with a hospitality offering like ours with a very different set of conditions.”
He added, “It’s been a story that has had different chapters each step of the way. We have seen positive steps and I think each step of the way I’m optimistic as we look toward the future. A significant amount of the property has reopened since the closure in March of 2020 and I think you’ll see even more of that as we pivot into the first quarter of 2022.”
Within weeks the casino will reopen its South End Market with a new food option, Macho Taco, also reopening its Top Golf and Costa’s pizza counter and bar. It will also soon reopen its bowling alley.
Live entertainment is also returning to the MassMutual Center that the casino operates for the city. Kelley said, “Reengaging with entertainment in a meaningful way is something that we haven’t been able to do over the last years and I think there’s a lot of excitement around that.” He added, “You are starting to see that return to entertainment as a significant part of the experience at MGM and in the city itself.”
Poker has returned to the casino, although not in any level like it was before. The hotel reopened completely last December.
Finally, says Kelley, “If you walk the property, pretty much every aspect of business has been brought back. Not necessarily all days and hours, but it’s been brought back to near pre-COVID-19 levels.”
