And then there was one … MGM Springfield. But you won’t hear MGM Resorts International execs popping champagne corks or seeing them do victory laps. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has already warned that it’s not required to issue a license. So if the MGC, acting on the advice of Spectrum Gaming Group, decided there’s too much Stanley Ho in MGM’s background, that could be the end of a beautiful project. Vice President of Global Gaming Development Michael Mathis had the understatement of the week when he said he is “not surprised by anything in the casino process.” Ain’t that the truth? Especially the Bay State.
The culture of Massachusetts may still be too prim and Puritan to more than timidly accept what New Yorkers embraced earlier this week. Consider the number of towns that have voted down casino projects, including non-binding “no” votes in Longmeadow and West Springfield. Consider also the schoolmarmish remark of MGC member Gayle Cameron, made to Steve Wynn: “There’s never been a casino anywhere in the world that has no criminal activity.” Against that mindset, how much chance does anyone have? (Of course, the three slot-parlor contenders approved for operation in Massachusetts can say you still have a very good chance. Ditto vagrant Rush Street Gaming, hoping to catch a break at Suffolk Downs.) More recently, MGC Chairman Stephen Crosby said severely, “We’ve said many times, we are not pro-casino, we are pro-implementation of this law,” and Crosby is not to be trifled with.
(Nevada gambling regulation, on the other hand, can often be a jocular, old-boys-network affair,)
MGM can take small consolation that Springfield City Council President James Ferrera, who was calling for a Plan B, was voted out of office Tuesday. “We all know of MGM’s problems in Macau,” he had sniveled to the MGC. With friends like that …
Having been nixed by voters in East Boston, a casino at Suffolk Downs would have to be built entirely on the Revere side of the border and plans are already afoot to do so. The MGC is favorably inclined, having already green-lit Suffolk as an operator. I confess I’m fascinated as to how the Downs would pull this off. Satellite maps show the Revere portion to be jam-packed with barns and the northern end of the racing oval. What can be cannibalized? Will it be necessary to destroy horseracing at Suffolk in order to save it?
It’s more plausible, anyway, than the hopes of Mohegan Sun, flailing to stay in the game out in Palmer. Mohegan and its allies are muttering darkly about “voting irregularities” and “outside influences,” but I’ll be surprised if all the smoke yields any fire.
Trailer Station fans, head on up to Reno. The next, 16-slot, temporary casino is to be held at Siri’s Casino on an unspecified, Yuletide date, across the street from Harrah’s. Property owner Jeff Siri needs to keep his entitlement intact so he can reopen in six months or so with a refurbished, little casino — 150 slots, plus food and drink.
