David McKee

Boston still has 10 weeks to reach terms with Suffolk Downs on a billion-dollar racino. That may explain Caesars Entertainment‘s apparent lack of urgency in reaching a host-community agreement. Beantown Mayor Thomas Menino‘s administration seems to be expending considerably more energy trying to thread a loophole whereby it could kill Wynn Resorts‘ project in adjoining Everett. Since public support for Suffolk Downs has been considerably more lukewarm than that for Steve Wynn‘s sales pitch, it would be far easier for Menino to stop Wynn than to push the Suffolk Downs package on its own merits. The latter has until Halloween to cut a deal with Menino and is taking its own sweet time. Boston officialdom may be raising the pressure publicly but the longer Caesars runs out the clock, the more Boston has to take what it’s given.

Even if Suffolk Downs prevails at the ballot box — as it probably will — the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has the final say. So why not try to kneecap Wynn before he gets that far? If you think it’s ugly now, just wait until Menino tries to cock-block Wynn and the whole magilla winds up in court. Now that will be butt-ugly.

MGM Resorts International‘s proposal — out in West Springfield — could get tripped up in an unexpected way: Its relationship with former director and convicted felon Terry Christenson. Just when MGM’s entry into Massachusetts and Maryland, and re-entry into Atlantic City, seemed all but certain it could be thwarted by ex parte communications between Christenson and the casino giant. The former’s conduit to MGM was the since-expunged Gary Jacobs. However, MGM had a habit of living dangerously during the late Terrence Lanni‘s tenure, a tendency that continues to haunt it to this day. This is likeliest to be an issue with Massachusetts regulators, who are more persnickety than their colleagues to the south. Even so, Free State rival Penn National Gaming must be gloating something fierce.

So desperate — and I mean desperate — to bring a slot parlor to Plainridge Racecourse that they’re willing to sell it. Now, whether the Massachusetts Gaming Commission would be willing to waive the Oct. 4 deadline for background checks is a good question. What’s sauce for Plainridge, which flunked state scrutiny, ought to be sauce for every other slot parlor. To do otherwise would penalize companies like Rush Street Gaming and Cordish Gaming who have kept their noses clean. Had Plainridge not been blissfully ignorant of a skim by former boss Gary Piontkowski it wouldn’t be in such a pickle now.

Wynn is but one of several would-be casino barons who are showering favors upon the City of Brotherly Love. His company has been the benefactor of various local charities while Joseph “Tomato King” Procacci has been planting trees. That’s all well and good but Bart Blatstein may have the best ground game, showing the flag at 35 community meetings. Once again, opponents seem in disarray. Also, the city has had several years to get acclimated to casino/community partnerships and many people like the largesse that comes with them. This time, the role of Lady Bountiful is being played by Penn National, which is promising two-thirds of its cash flow to local schools. I don’t know if that’s a prudent or even a profitable way to run a casino but that’s Penn’s worry and not mine.

One of the knocks on the casino industry — and rightly so — is that it sucks in retail and restaurant spending that might otherwise be done in the immediate area. Kudos to the proponents of Market8, in Philly. It’s crafting a loyalty program wherein repeat customers “could cash in points at surrounding restaurants, retailers, entertainment venues, museums, tourist attractions and parking lots.” It’s worked for operator Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs and it’s the kind of community outreach of which casinos could hardly do too much.

Meanwhile, in California …