Note: After this story was completed, MGM Resorts International announced that Michael Mathis had been promoted to a new position in Las Vegas and would be replaced by Chris Kelley.

Kelley joined MGM Resorts as vice president and chief financial officer of MGM Grand Detroit in 2017. Prior to joining the company, He had an 18-year tenure with Viejas Casino & Resort in?San Diego where he held numerous leadership positions, including five years as the property’s general manager. Kelley holds bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Political Science from Connecticut College and received a master’s degree in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

There has been no timeline announced for the transition of leadership.

SPRINGFIELD – If there is one thing that is a constant in the casino business it’s change.

MGM Springfield President Michael Mathis explained that after a year and a half in business, the casino’s management continues to make improvements to the near one billion dollar facility.

To make the necessary tweaks, Mathis explained to Reminder Publishing, two sources of information are vital: financial data showing what games and features are popular and which are not and what customers have to say.

Mathis described the MGM audience as “pretty sophisticated” because there has been gaming in the market for a number of years.

Through this dual approach to research, Mathis said the management realized, for instance, there were not enough bars in the casino, nor there were enough video poker machines. Therefore the casino constructed a new bar with video gaming machines near the Main Street entrance to the casino that Mathis said has brought “new energy” to the floor.

Among the other changes was the conversion of the former Starbucks off of the hotel lobby into a VIP lounge.

“I think, candidly, that was a miss by us on our design when we initially built the property, designed the property. We didn’t give enough space to that VIP guest who was looking for a little bit of quiet space away from the casino floor,” he said.

In the South End Market area, the wine bar has been transformed into a raw bar, in part of the success of the Jack’s Lobster Shack. The new eatery features seasonal, locally sourced oysters, shrimp, clams and crab legs.

“That’s been a huge hit,” he added.

Wahlburgers is now under construction and will be open this summer, Mathis noted.

They have also added larger, themed, more interactive slot machines to the gaming area and added table games, that Mathis explained may not be popular in other parts of the country but are popular with the MGM Springfield customers.

Stadium games have also been added to provide an “interactive communal experience.” He said, “It’s been really great for the customers because, one, it’s a less intimidating entry into gaming for those who are not as experienced and don’t want to be in a live game and mess up other players or be intimidated by other players and, two, because we’re really efficient having two dealers service 24 customers at the machines we’re able to reduce the table limits and give that $5 bet customer an opportunity on the floor at all times.”

There has been additional valet parking expanded into the second floor, as well as VIP self serve parking. A solar canopy has been constructed on the eighth floor of the parking garage that will provide power for the casino.

He noted the ramp-up period for a casino is three to five years.

When asked if he was happy with the progress of the business, Mathis replied, “Overall, extremely happy.” He noted that certain parts of business are ahead of the schedule set by MGM Resorts, while other parts are “lagging behind.”

He explained, “Both get more of our focus: what are we doing right and do more of it and what can we improve upon and really devote our resources there.”

A principal goal is to bring more people to downtown Springfield, especially those who may not normally come to the city. Mathis said that programming at the MassMutual Center and Symphony Hall is part of that effort, as well as the casino’s sponsorship and participation in events such as the last year’s American Hockey League Classic, which Mathis described as “huge weekend.” This year he noted that he anticipated 10,000 Boston Red Sox fans for the Red Sox Winter Weekend, which took place mid-January.

Events such as these “give [people] a reason to come and check out Springfield.”

He added, “Once a customer has seen our product, we have a really good shot of getting them back.”

He is anticipating the 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement class in the fall will be another event to bring people to Springfield and provide a great opportunity for the casino and city.

Concerning competition from the Connecticut casinos as well as the new Encore casino in the Boston area, Mathis said, “I wouldn’t be totally sincere if I said that each of the properties aren’t competitive at some level. The reality is some of the highest worth customers in this market will go to all the properties. We cater to all of them. They can always get the best rooms, the best reservations, the best show tickets.”

Mathis said that in the six months or so that Encore has been open, the numbers at MGM Springfield have been “flat or even up.”

He added, “What that tells me is that we have a loyal group of customers in the western part of the state and central Connecticut and upstate New York, and they have a core group in eastern Massachusetts. There’s room for MGM. We grew the market. There’s room for Encore and their product and they grew the market. Between our two properties we added close to a billion dollar and an annualized basis of gaming revenue. There’s been a little bit of erosion if you look at the Connecticut numbers, but overall this market has grown with the introduction of MGM and the introduction of Encore.”

Mathis is part of an effort to advocate to the Commonwealth for the establishment of sports betting. He said MGM has considerable experience with sports betting at its casinos in New Jersey, Nevada and Mississippi. He said one-third of the company’s customers want sport betting and that when it has been added it has brought “a 10 percent lift to the whole campus.”

The State House News Service recently reported, “At one point after the U.S. Supreme Court granted states the right to legalize sports betting, Massachusetts looked like it could be among the early adopters. The state’s casinos, which aren’t quite living up to their revenue projections, are eager for a new way to attract gamblers and Bay State sharps are looking forward to placing a bet without having to drive across state lines. But as other states raced forward – New Hampshire joined Rhode Island in accepting wagers – the issue has moved to the back burner on Beacon Hill. Led by Sen. Eric Lesser and Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, the Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technology has been weighing the myriad issues that could come with a further expansion of gambling in Massachusetts. ‘It is an issue that has potentially broad social consequences, so it has to be done deliberately and properly,’ Lesser told the News Service in December. On top of the sports betting-specific questions the committee must answer – how should wagers or winnings be taxed? Should college sports be open to betting? How accessible should betting platforms be? – lawmakers have previously suggested they might address a more comprehensive scope of the gaming universe, including sports betting, daily fantasy sports and other forms of gaming and wagering, with legislation in the spring of 2020. Gov. Baker, who filed his own sports betting bill in January 2019 in hopes that people could bet by the start of the NFL season, has said he doesn’t anticipate much from the Legislature until the session is nearly complete. “The session ends in July, but I would be very surprised if it got done before that,’ he said in October on WEEI.’”

Mathis calls the institution of sports gaming “a huge priority for us.” He said the sports betting customers are different than those who play slots or table games. He said they tend to stay longer in a casino’s bars and restaurants.

Lesser told Reminder Publishing “I think there are a lot of eyes on sports betting ...It’s high up on the [legislative] list this year.”

Will there be other changes in the future?  Mathis answered, “Yes, we’re going to continue to keep it fresh. Some will be smaller than others; some will be larger scale. Wahlburgers finishes out the campus, but we are continuing looking at activating under-utilized space and tweaking concepts … Keeping it fresh especially for our high repeat customer base we have is really important.”