New England Public Radio

MGM to Casino Regulators: Don’t Delay

MGM is urging the Massachusetts Gaming Commission not to delay its timeline for awarding resort casino licenses.

The company appears to be the sole remaining bidder for the western Massachusetts license after voters in Palmer this week rejected a plan from Mohegan Sun by 93 votes.

MGM’s Michael Mathis told the commission Thursday that competition with other states is just one reason to stay with the current schedule.

“New York just passed expanded gaming,” Mathis says. “There’s going to be incoming competition in upstate New York and that’s a market that we plan to go after. We like to be first to market. Our experience is first to market, you create a database and you’re more competitive. So I would really encourage the commission to try to keep to these timelines, because I think – overall – it would benefit the commonwealth and certainly benefit a project like ours.”

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission plans to award resort casino licenses by April of next year.

The commission’s chairman, Stephen Crosby, on Wednesday noted that MGM does not have a lock on a license. Crosby said the company still must pass a background check and submit a final application for its downtown Springfield casino.

It also must negotiate deals with surrounding towns to help offset increased traffic and public safety costs.

West Springfield Voters to Hard Rock: ‘We Don’t Want You.’

Voters in West Springfield soundly defeated a proposal for a casino on the grounds of the Eastern States Exposition. Tuesday’s referendum on the host community agreement between the town and Hard Rock Gaming failed by a 10-percent margin.

At a gathering across the street from the resort-casino’s proposed site, stunned supporters watched as the results came in quickly. Tim Maland heads Hard Rock’s New England operation.

“We talked to lots of people,” Maland told reporters. “We worked hard. We tried our best. We thought we were honest, open, above-board, transparent, communicated our message very well, I thought. And we’ve been told by the residents, ‘We don’t want you.'”

A mile down the street, casino opponents rejoiced in their victory. One supporter shouted “David has beaten Goliath,” referring to the grassroots effort, which prevailed despite relatively little funding. Nathan Bech led the group No Casino West Springfield.

“A lot of people did a lot of work and just really got the word out, got the message out that, ‘Hey, don’t believe this propaganda. Don’t believe what this billion dollar corporation is trying to push down your throat.’ We got the truth out there. We explained the facts about the damage that a casino does,” Bech said.

The results caused an emotional response from West Springfield residents on both sides of the issue. Ted Hebert said a casino was not a good fit for the town.

“We need jobs of integrity,” Hebert said. “We don’t need casinos that have no windows, no clocks and they pump in oxygen to keep you alive. We care about our local community. We care about our jobs, and that is why the citizens of West Springfield did what they did.”

“This is a foolish decision and I think the town’s going to regret it for a many, many years. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said resident Tom Caruso, gathering with supporters at Hard Rock’s results-watching party. “Was it perfect? No. But nothing is perfect. Where are you going to get this many jobs in such a short time in such a concentrated area? It’s not going to happen.”

The third and final Western Massachusetts casino referendum is scheduled in Palmer for November 5th.

Earlier this year, Springfield voters approved a deal between the city and MGM.

Worth the Wait? Palmer Cuts a Deal with Mohegan Sun

Mohegan Sun and the town of Palmer say they have a deal. They’re vying for the single casino license slated for Western Massachusetts.

Officials in Springfield locked up an agreement with MGM in May. West Springfield and Hard Rock reached a deal in July. And after weeks of haggling, Mohegan Sun and Palmer town manager Charlie Blanchard get their turn this Thursday.

“We’re ready to put our signatures on it and then present it to the Palmer Town Council for ratification,” Blanchard says.

If all goes as planned, residents of Palmer will vote on the deal in November or early December.

Agreements like this tend to include millions in payments and investment from the casino for its host community and surrounding towns. But Blanchard refused to release numbers yet.

“I don’t know what people’s expectations are, but I think we’ve fairly addressed the issues that require mitigation that were identified in the various studies that were completed,” he says.

On the same day as this news from a competitor, Hard Rock had an announcement of its own. The company says that earlier this year West Springfield voters disapproved of a casino in the town by a double-digit margin. (It declined to provide specific numbers from that first poll.) It now claims support from 50 percent of those surveyed.

Actual ballots are cast on the West Springfield proposal on September 10th.

With Referendum Question Released, Pro and Anti-Casino Campaigns Begin in Springfield

Late last week in Springfield, the ballot question language for the proposed MGM Resorts casino was sent to voters, ahead of the referendum set for July 16th. Now the campaigns for and against the downtown casino are officially underway.

The referendum will ask whether voters approve of the proposed casino development and host community agreement with the city. That would allow MGM to continue to seek the sole casino license in western Massachusetts, which will be awarded by the state gaming commission.

Michael Kogut is chair of Citizens Against Casino Gaming. He says his organization faces long odds in their bid to rally support against MGM.

“It’s a classic David vs. Goliath. We are out there talking to community groups, just as MGM has been doing for quite some time, doing it grassroots. We have a couple of rallies planned next month, and we’ll just be going to as many voters as we can to educate them.”

Meanwhile, MGM held a “Vote Yes” campaign kickoff event last week. Michael Mathis, vice president of global gaming development at MGM, says the company’s grassroots operation is well underway, based out of its downtown office.

“Anybody can come in 9-5, and learn about the project, pick up collateral, and then we’ll be – we’ve got various supporters throughout the community and we’ll have them out in force.”

Mathis says MGM wants to build on what it sees as an already solid majority of voters supporting the measure ahead of the referendum.

Sarno, MGM Formally Sign Casino Agreement

Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno and MGM Resorts International officially signed a host community agreement for a proposed casino Wednesday. But the proposal still has several hurdles ahead. 

Mayor Sarno and MGM Springfield president Bill Hornbuckle inked the deal in front of dozens of city leaders and supporters. MGM still needs to win support of the City Council, Springfield voters, and ultimately the state gaming commission. If it does, it will compete for customers with Connecticut’s casinos, and up to two more casinos and one slots parlor that can be licensed in other regions of Massachusetts. Hornbuckle says while any new development is a risk for his company, he says the single license in the western part of the state will help.

“We’re comforted by, within seventy miles, just about a million odd people that we think we can call our customers,” says Hornbuckle. “And so, yeah, we’re afraid, we’re always afraid. But we’re going to go do this in every way we’ve described, and we think it will be a winner.”

Only one casino license can be awarded in western Massachusetts, and two other casinos have been proposed in the region – one by Mohegan Sun in Palmer, and one by Hard Rock Casinos in West Springfield. Hornbuckle says getting the referendum passed by a wide majority will send the gaming commission a message.

“We want them to be able to say, ‘Springfield is the right spot’ with confidence, because the vast majority of the electorate there not only understood the program, but wanted the program. So I think it’s critical we get that vote as high as we can.”

According to Mayor Sarno, the City Council will start discussing the host community agreement this week. Hornbuckle say the goal is to hold a referendum in mid-July.

Springfield Casino Developers Meet City Deadline, Mohegan Sun Yet to Submit State Application

Penn National Gaming and MGM Resorts, two casino companies vying for a casino license in Springfield, met the city’s second phase application deadline Thursday. Now the city will review the applications and determine whether to negotiate a host community agreement with one or both companies. But to the east in Palmer, Mohegan Sun of Connecticut, has also proposed a casino, and is looking ahead to the state’s upcoming application deadline. 

Mohegan Sun has been eyeing a Palmer casino since 2007, several years before casino gambling was legalized in Massachusetts. But unlike the two companies looking to develop in Springfield, Mohegan Sun has yet to submit an application and the $400,000 fee to the state gaming commission. But a Mohegan Sun spokesman says the company plans to file its application in time for the state’s January 15th deadline.

Meanwhile, Northeast Gaming Group, the company that owns the land where Mohegan Sun has proposed its casino, is threatening to sue one of its early investors, Peter Picknelly. He is the CEO of Peter Pan Bus Lines and invested $500,000 in Northeast in early 2008. But since last summer, Picknelly has been a 50-50 partner with Penn National for a proposed casino in Springfield’s North End. 

Stephen Spelman, an attorney for Northeast, says it expects Picknelly to divest from Penn National.

“As we’ve told them, we are prepared to go forward in the Superior Court to bring a suit if we have to against Mr. Picknelly. We’d prefer not to, we’d prefer that he just live up to his obligations of good faith and fair dealing to Northeast Gaming Group.”

Spelman claims Picknelly is still a partner in Northeast. But in a statement, Picknelly says he was only an investor. He says that Northeast’s claims are “completely frivolous and smack of desperation,” saying Mohegan Sun is now an outsider in the race for the region’s single casino license. But Spelman says Mohegan Sun has nearly completed a host community agreement with Palmer, putting it ahead of companies in Springfield.