Just like that, another Las Vegas casino heavyweight has hit the canvas in Massachusetts. Election results in Foxborough spelled doom for Steve Wynn‘s proposed resort (below) and neither he nor New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft wasted any time throwing in the towel. Their complete statements make it clear that this is more than a “suspension”: “For the past six months, Wynn Resorts has sought to communicate the benefits of a proposed destination resort,” the Wynn declaration begins, rather peevishly, with a subtext of “but you chowderheads didn’t listen.” (Shades of Wynn’s precipitate and bitter withdrawal from the Philadelphia market.)
Between this and MGM Resorts International‘s bungled due diligence in Brimfield, the champions are getting their clocks cleaned. Although I don’t make it a practice to second-guess the electorate, it’s difficult to disagree with local real estate agent Mille Cetrone, who lamented, “Wynn is the best of the best and the town let him walk away … This was the best place for a casino and we let it slip through our little fingers. I think we lost a golden opportunity.”
Instead, the Boston area will get … 
homeboy Gary Loveman. Wynn’s loss is an indirect win for Caesars Entertainment and partner Richard Fields, whose Suffolk Downs proposal now has a clear shot to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Caesars isn’t the kind of financially robust operator Bay State regulators say they want but they’re stuck with them now, unless Sheldon Adelson decides to rethink his wait-and-see attitude toward the Mashpee Wampanoag set-aside, currently being litigated by a group of Adelson’s business associates.
Halftime score: Loveman 1, Wynn 0.
Having been born and raised in Beantown, you will always run into violent opposition from mediocre minds in this area of the country. It’s the very reason I had to move OUT of MA to perserve my sanity and avoid heartache.
The Not in my backyard or we have to perserve this property for historical sake is too overwhelming. (Just because your great-great grandfather built this shack, doesn’t mean there is historical value.
Mr Kraft should have known bett-a!
Quite seriously, it seems that democracy or even a republican form of government is an inconvenient annoyance for the titans of the casino industry. I don’t know anything about what happened in Massachusetts but I do know that Wynn, Adelson and others seem to throw in the towel when confronted by local opposition, preferring to do business only in places like China, Mississippi or Nevada where the government gives them everything they want.
I, too know nothing about Beantown, but I do know that anyplace built by Wynn or Adelson will have nothing for middle-class gamblers or low rollers. Take a walk through any of their properties, look at the table minimums and video-poker pay scales, and you can get an idea of what they are about. Gaudiness sells in Vegas, it’s a curiosity, a facination. I enjoy watching people play with cranberries, but at least in Vegas I can then go out and play with red chips down the street. If you let Wynn or Adelson build the only game in town, only Mitt’s neighbors will be playing …