While the Boston Globe may call it a “baby step,” the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is doing the right thing by means-testing the market before awarding a full-scale casino license in the southeastern part of the Bay State, which looks pretty saturated at the moment. The key questions 
are whether the market can support such a casino and would the state benefit from it? Rush Street Gaming will be all gung-ho for the move, as it’s still pushing a $677 million project in Brockton. Still, Rush Street attorneys confessed to impatience, writing, “We ask that whatever else you do … you recognize that the ongoing delay comes at a tremendous human and financial cost. We ask that you move the process forward quickly.” Oh, the humanity. Still, as the Globe puts it, “regulators are now facing an increasingly complex and uncertain gambling landscape,” none of the three existing casinos having performed up to projections.
Not only do regulators worry about a fourth, tribal casino in Taunton—although it looks like a very long shot at this point—putting a private-sector casino in Brockton or elsewhere nearby is not going to thrill Wynn 
Resorts and Penn National Gaming, both of whom are likely to resent the competition. Commissioner Enrique Zuniga thinks that the interest of an operator as successful as Neil Bluhm (pictured) implies that the Brockton market is viable. “There’s somebody with the experience of operating in other competitive areas that thinks they can make money here. That’s about as good an indication as we’re going to have.” Yes, indeed, and Bluhm wants to risk his money why stop him, especially with Mayor-elect Robert F. Sullivan being noncommittal on the casino issue? Instead of opening a can of worms by tinkering with the casino-enactment law, which could wreak havoc on Deval Patrick‘s grand scheme, why not give Bluhm a shot? Have we asked enough questions?
* Hokkaido Gov. Naomichi Suzuki may have pulled his prefecture out of the running for a casino megaresort but Hard Rock International isn’t taking no for an answer. “I really don’t understand [the Governor’s decision] and I feel it’s a bit of a waste,” complained Hard Rock Japan 
President Ado Machida. “An IR was expected to help drastically mitigate the problems of population decline, the declining birthrate, an aging population and the tax decline that comes with that.” I don’t get the declining-birthrate part. I mean, yeah, casinos are sexy but still … Machida promised that his company “will continue our efforts for a future IR bid in Hokkaido.” Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, meanwhile, is looking for a new place to nest, as is Rush Street Japan. Considering that Suzuki’s decision was made based on environment concerns we would advise Hard Rock to tread lightly, lest it be perceived as a bunch of Ugly Americans. However, with $5 billion in Hard Rock bucks being dangled before him, Suzuki hasn’t completely ruled out a reversal of his reversal somewhere in the hazy yon.
* The path of the Pamunkey Nation toward a Virginia casino just got easier. Rather than jump through a series of federal hoops to establish a sovereign nation within Norfolk city limits, the city and tribe are going to pursue a commercial casino. Of course, that opens the door to sundry potential competitors but it speeds up the Pamunkey’s eligibility quite a bit. The proposed casino is being downscaled from $700 million to $200 million (meaning 2,500 fewer jobs). Meanwhile, there’s still the small matter of casino gambling not being legal in Old Virginny yet, although a bill to put casinos in five southern-tier cities is currently before the Lege. However, politicians are forever greedy for casino revenues so we’re optimistic.
