{"id":16938,"date":"2015-10-05T15:21:45","date_gmt":"2015-10-05T23:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=16938"},"modified":"2015-10-05T15:21:45","modified_gmt":"2015-10-05T23:21:45","slug":"mgm-sends-emissary-to-springfield-florida-tribe-takes-a-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/mgm-sends-emissary-to-springfield-florida-tribe-takes-a-loss\/","title":{"rendered":"MGM sends emissary to Springfield; Florida tribe takes a loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

Undoubtedly realizing that it laid a public-relations egg with its scaled-down redesign of MGM Springfield<\/strong>, parent company MGM \"Hornbuckle\"<\/a>Resorts International<\/strong> is sending President William Hornbuckle<\/strong> to Springfield<\/strong> to mend fences<\/a> with Mayor Domenic Sarno<\/strong>. Actually, Sarno has been in MGM’s corner from the get-go. It’s the city council and its constituents that Hornbuckle needs to mollify. (While he’s there, Hornbuckle might ask project president Michael Mathis<\/strong> why costs are “skyrocketing” in an economically depressed area.)<\/p>\n

Well, not needs<\/em>, since the council made a complete hash<\/a> of its attempt to obtain a referendum on MGM’s proposed changes. It missed the September 29 deadline for filing a ballot question which would have read,\u00a0\u201cDo you support an amendment to the Host Community Agreement between MGM Springfield and the City of Springfield, previously approved by a referendum vote, which would eliminate the high-rise glass hotel …\u00a0and which would make other changes to the development site?<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

MGM at least has a supporter in the Ron Chimellis<\/strong> of the Springfield Republican<\/em>, who cast aspersions on the council’s motives, calling the attempted referendum “another, last-ditch \"MGM<\/a>chance for sore losers to challenge the casino’s arrival. If a question had made the ballot, its dry description of hotel design would not have reflected the true motives behind it. Between the lines would have furtively been the real question: do you trust these casino guys or not?\u201d<\/p>\n

Some distrust may be in order, as Mathis continues to be vague about what caused MGM Springfield’s probable cost to escalate to over $900 million, according to Massachusetts Gaming Commission<\/strong> estimates. For at least part of the answer, we have to look to the Wall Street Journal<\/em>, which reported that the cost of those glass curtain walls of which MGM is so fond has risen 30%<\/a><\/p>\n

\"This<\/a><\/p>\n

over the last year and a half. The initial\u00a0budget was also predicated on a 2016 opening<\/a>, so MGM’s postponement to 2018 is proving literally costly. Also, the cost of the housing units — an integral part of the original plan — had ballooned to $800,000 each, too rich for MGM’s blood. \u00a0The council can still vote on the changes but the realpolitik is they’re probably stuck with them. It would certainly be a test of MGM’s commitment to Springfield if city officials told them to go back to the original drawing board.<\/p>\n

In unrelated “casino stuff,” as Massachusetts<\/strong> Gov. Charlie Baker<\/strong> calls it, Suffolk Downs<\/strong> should be absolved from any involvement with mystery developer Eugene McCain<\/strong>‘s pursuit of \"suffolk<\/a>a slot-parlor license for Revere<\/strong>, where he’s bought a trailer park as a potential site. Downs CEO Chip Tuttle<\/strong> said,\u00a0\u201cWe have been clear that Suffolk Downs has nothing to do with this ballot question and that we will not support it.” His allies against McCain include Penn National Gaming<\/strong> and Wynn Resorts<\/strong>, both of which have filed legal briefs opposing Attorney General Maura Healey<\/strong>‘s approval of the slot-parlor vote. Put another way, if McCain carves a hole through the 2011 casino-enabling legislation, how many other mice will burrow into the cheese?<\/p>\n

* A jurisprudential flip-flop that took planned slot machines away from Creek Entertainment Gretna<\/strong> had less to do with Florida<\/strong> \"bondi\"<\/a>Attorney General Pam Bondi<\/strong>‘s legal brilliance than with the changing makeup of the First District Court of Appeal<\/strong>. One of its members retired, was replaced by a Gov. Rick Scott<\/strong> appointee and — voila!<\/em> — the Poarch Creek Indians<\/strong> were on the losing end of a 2-1 vote<\/a>, although they vow to take the matter to the state Supreme Court. The ruling may not be enough to stem a jailbreak of slot machines in the Sunshine State: Five counties are slated to vote on legalizing them.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0Even though\u00a0Indian Country casinos represent a $29 billion\/year industry, Wall Street<\/strong>\u00a0generally doesn’t like the risk\/reward equation. Och-Ziff Capital Management<\/strong> has been getting rich on investment in tribal gaming — albeit at usurious terms<\/a> for the tribes involved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Undoubtedly realizing that it laid a public-relations egg with its scaled-down redesign of MGM Springfield, parent company MGM Resorts International is sending President William Hornbuckle to Springfield to mend fences with Mayor Domenic Sarno. Actually, Sarno has been in MGM’s … 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":[65,14,36,112,11,69,25,32,20,38],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16938"}],"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=16938"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16940,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16938\/revisions\/16940"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}