The significance of Chris Kelly at MGM Springfield

Another milestone in the history of full-scale casinos began with the opening of MGM Springfield in August 2018. It preceded the long-awaited opening of Encore Boston Harbour by a year. After closing during the pandemic in 2020, MGM Springfield and other rooms took some time to fully recover. Read more about Chris Kelley MGM and his support.

Chris Kelly at MGM Springfield

In early 2020, the Massachusetts-based casino planned to improve its results in its second year under new management. Philip Kelly was named president and chief operating officer of MGM Springfield, succeeding Paul Mathis. The move is aimed at achieving greater profitability for the facility.

Kelly moved to Massachusetts after working at another MGM asset in Ohio, where he held a similar position. He was also previously CFO of MGM Grand Detroit and began his casino career as general manager of Ancianas Casino & Resort in San Diego. His experience in renaming and integrating properties and interacting with the community will be of great benefit to MGM Springfield.

MGM Springfield Casino faced challenges in its first two years of operation, failing to achieve expected profitability and had to cut 500 jobs. Also, neighboring retail space was left vacant. Despite this, it has contributed a significant amount to the state's economy, but MGM management is committed to further improvement under Kelly's leadership.

Support for legalizing betting

It remains to be seen whether Kelly will actively support the legalization of sports betting in Massachusetts as his predecessor did. But it could be an additional source of revenue for MGM Springfield. Ultimately, Kelly's goal is to improve MGM Springfield's financial performance, and if he can accomplish that, his tenure in Massachusetts will last for years to come.