{"id":13060,"date":"2014-03-20T10:14:21","date_gmt":"2014-03-20T18:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=13060"},"modified":"2014-03-20T10:14:21","modified_gmt":"2014-03-20T18:14:21","slug":"twin-setbacks-in-massachusetts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/twin-setbacks-in-massachusetts\/","title":{"rendered":"Twin setbacks in Massachusetts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Coakley\"<\/a>After all the tsuris<\/em> that’s gone into bringing casinos to Massachusetts<\/strong>, it may be for naught. In two months, public support has gone from 53% to 46%<\/a> (against 43% opposed), according to MassINC Polling Group<\/strong>. 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<\/strong>, which is already building, had better hope that state Attorney General Martha Coakley<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong> was resistant to Steve Wynn<\/strong>‘s courtship because there was no great economic need there, among other reasons.)<\/p>\n

Further complicating matters, Boston<\/strong> Mayor Martin J. Walsh<\/strong> continues to try and bring home some bacon for his constituents<\/a>, demanding veto power over casino projects in Revere<\/strong> and Everett<\/strong>, 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<\/strong> will address Walsh’s demands at today’s meeting.<\/p>\n

\"Walsh\"<\/a>Hizzoner’s claims rest upon the strain that either Wynn Boston<\/strong> or Suffolk Downs<\/strong> would put on Boston’s own infrastructure. Also, the “draw” of each casino is its proximity to Boston. (Wynn Leominster<\/strong>? I don’t think so.) Access to the Mohegan Sun<\/strong> 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.)\u00a0Since the enabling legislation defines a host community as\u00a0\u201ca municipality in which a gaming establishment is located<\/em>\u201d 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\u00a0\u201ca 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<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wynn Resorts<\/strong>‘ response to Walsh’s provocation was simply to point out that host-community status had already be conceded by the Thomas Menino<\/strong> administration and that was that. But nothing comes easily in the fledgling Massachusetts casino industry.<\/p>\n

\"Steve_Wynn_co_Wynn_t420\"<\/a>Speaking of Wynn<\/strong>, 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<\/em>? 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\u2019s quality, as well as goals related to the development of the Wynn Palace<\/strong>” in Macao<\/strong> to executive-compensation criteria.<\/p>\n

Case Bets<\/strong>: Add the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino<\/strong> to the list of properties that have struck a new deal<\/a> with the Culinary Union<\/strong>. Another Goldman Sachs<\/strong>-owned casino, the Stratosphere<\/strong>, is already in the fold … Unite-Here<\/strong> members marched on Revel Resort<\/strong>, demanding union representation prior to any sale of the property<\/a>. Owner Chatham Asset Management<\/strong> has been hired to handle New Jersey<\/strong> state pension funds, some of which could get invested in Revel … Some Las Vegas<\/strong> stories you can’t make up. Like so<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,151,81,62,112,167,69,157,32,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13060"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13061,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13060\/revisions\/13061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}