After all the tsuris that’s gone into bringing casinos to Massachusetts, it may be for naught. In two months, public support has gone from 53% to 46% (against 43% opposed), according to MassINC Polling Group. That means that, if casino opponents can get their repeal measure onto the November ballot, the industry is in serious trouble. Companies like Penn National Gaming, which is already building, had better hope that state Attorney General Martha Coakley prevails at the state Supreme Court with her argument that a repeal (which would be tantamount to an asset forfeiture) would be an unlawful taking of the money and other assets the industry has poured into the Bay State.
Opposition is strongest among women and (especially) people with advanced degrees. Towns and cities hit by the double whammy of low wages and high unemployment are the most supportive. (Foxborough was resistant to Steve Wynn‘s courtship because there was no great economic need there, among other reasons.)
Further complicating matters, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh continues to try and bring home some bacon for his constituents, demanding veto power over casino projects in Revere and Everett, additional referendums on each and “massive compensation packages.” Walsh’s office ominously intoned that it was “exploring options to press its case for more power.” The Massachusetts Gaming Commission will address Walsh’s demands at today’s meeting.
Hizzoner’s claims rest upon the strain that either Wynn Boston or Suffolk Downs would put on Boston’s own infrastructure. Also, the “draw” of each casino is its proximity to Boston. (Wynn Leominster? I don’t think so.) Access to the Mohegan Sun casino on Suffolk Downs would be through part of Boston, so Walsh has that argument working in his favor, too. (He makes a similar claim about Wynn Boston.) Since the enabling legislation defines a host community as “a municipality in which a gaming establishment is located” it would appear that Wynn is safe. Suffolk Downs may be on shakier grounds, since some of Mohegan Sun’s amenities will be in Boston and a gaming establishment is “a gaming area and any other nongaming structure related to the gaming area and may include, but shall not be limited to, hotels, restaurants, or other amenities.”
Wynn Resorts‘ response to Walsh’s provocation was simply to point out that host-community status had already be conceded by the Thomas Menino administration and that was that. But nothing comes easily in the fledgling Massachusetts casino industry.
Speaking of Wynn, its CEO’s luxury villa will no longer be a perk of the job. El Steve will have to start paying $525,000 a year for it. His base salary will go from $4 million to $2.5 million. These changes are described as the outcome of “discussions” with shareholders — and who wouldn’t have wanted to be a fly on the wall for that? Given the value of his Wynn Resorts shares, Steve should be able to keep a roof over his head, we think. The new policy “adds third-party recognition of the company’s quality, as well as goals related to the development of the Wynn Palace” in Macao to executive-compensation criteria.
Case Bets: Add the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino to the list of properties that have struck a new deal with the Culinary Union. Another Goldman Sachs-owned casino, the Stratosphere, is already in the fold … Unite-Here members marched on Revel Resort, demanding union representation prior to any sale of the property. Owner Chatham Asset Management has been hired to handle New Jersey state pension funds, some of which could get invested in Revel … Some Las Vegas stories you can’t make up. Like so.
