American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman continues to show that change is the new order of the day. This morning brings news of five new lobbyists, most of them new to the gaming industry, presaging a big push on a variety of fronts — or “proactive communication,” as Freeman calls it. Predecessor Frank Fahrenkopf‘s style was to be low-key and poker-faced, but Freeman continues to make it clear that he’s his own man and is remaking the sedate AGA in his own image.
It’s the beginning of the end for Harmon Hotel, as MGM Resorts International begins removing “loose junk” (no, not Bobby Baldwin) from the derelict hotel. This move is preamble to a floor-by-floor dismantling of the building. Nobody is objecting to the cleanup but a Perini Building Co. attorney snarked, “I didn’t know you were in such need of money that you have to sell the scrap.” That’s a burn. Actually, things could hardly be going better for MGM right now.
The second time was the charm for the Mashpee Wampanoags, whose casino compact with Massachusetts was OK’d by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The trick was mainly to lower tax rates to a point where the BIA would find them more beneficial to the tribe than the state. However, the other, land-in-trust shoe has yet to drop, so any talk of a Mashpee casino remains theoretical.
