Mohegan Sun will come out a winner even if it is ultimately a loser in its bid to build a casino in Massachusetts, making it unique among all the contestants eager for a slice of one of the country’s most lucrative gambling markets.
Okay, whether Mohegan’s win-win situation will work out the best for the Bay State remains to be seen, but the Connecticut casino has played its cards shrewdly in this ultimate game of high-stakes poker, where the contestants include Las Vegas tycoons.
Mohegan years ago tied down a strategically placed tract of land just off the Massachusetts Turnpike in Palmer, a couple exits down from the main highway south to its flagship Connecticut casino.
And it is that move that now ensures that Mohegan will come out a winner, no matter who wins the coveted casino license for Western Massachusetts.
A Preemptive Strike?
Mohegan has had its hand in the Massachusetts game for longer than just about any player in the field except for Suffolk Downs in Boston, which has been lobbying for decades for slot machines, and now, a full-scale casino.
Mohegan first unveiled a proposal for a Palmer casino back on Aug. 2, 2007, having tied up more than 150 acres of land off the Pike.
And it was on that day that Mohegan ensured it would come out a winner, even if Massachusetts were to someday move ahead with full-scale casino gambling, something that happened four years later in the fall of 2011.
Mohegan’s proposed Palmer casino is halfway along the Massachusetts Turnpike from Springfield and the exit for 1-395, the road hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts gamblers motor south on each year to its Connecticut gambling palace.
By setting up shop in Palmer, Mohegan accomplished two big things, all without firing a shot, so to speak.
First, and most crucially, it prevented another rival player – whether a Steve Wynn or some scrappy casino developer no one ever heard of – from setting up shop near its doorstep. That would have been devastating to Mohegan, virtually putting a chokehold on its Massachusetts business, which has contributed billions to its coffers over nearly past two decades.
There are not that many towns and cities in the Bay State interested in hosting a casino, but down-at-the-heels, post-industrial Palmer is a prime target.
In fact, the site itself was being marketed to casino developers before Mohegan scooped it up, cutting a deal with a local developer and an out-of-state gambling executive.
If Mohegan hadn’t snatched it up, somebody else would have.
Second, by putting forth a viable casino proposal in Palmer, Mohegan has managed to scare off potential competitors from a wide swath of Western and Central Massachusetts.
The Palmer location effectively pushed potential competitors to the west, all the way out to Springfield, where three bidders have now emerged, two in the city (MGM and Penn National), and one (Hard Rock) just outside it.
Mohegan’s proposal has also helped push other potential competitors toward the east – at least those looking to do a major casino as opposed to a slot parlor.
It was already unlikely that a casino developer would target Worcester, which was inexplicably lumped into the state’s eastern casino zone along with Boston. (The state’s casino law divides Massachusetts up into three regions, each with one casino license, covering Eastern/Central Massachusetts, Southeast Massachusetts and Western Massachusetts.)
A Worcester casino proposal, one that would be competitive with Suffolk Downs in Boston and now Steve Wynn in Everett, is a long-shot in and of itself.
Yet a proposed Mohegan casino just down the Pike – and just over the line in the Western Massachusetts license zone – pretty much seals the deal.
Winning Bid Also Good
Of course, if Mohegan actually manages to win the bid for the Western Massachusetts casino, that could prove advantageous as well. Frankly, I have not been impressed with Mohegan’s pursuit of the license, even going so far as to argue the Connecticut casino, once a front-runner, had blown it, letting others like MGM aggressively take the lead.
Mohegan waited until the 11th hour to submit its $400,000 deposit to the state – presumably chump change to a deep-pocketed casino operator – and has had to bring in an outside financial backer as well.
And Mohegan’s proposal continues to underwhelm – at $600 million it is significantly smaller than its first proposal and a couple hundred million dollars short of what MGM, Penn National and Hard Rock are proposing in Springfield.
Given jobs and economic development are key criteria to be used by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, those numbers count.
Still, Mohegan has at least bought a ticket – and a $400,000 one at that – to the Massachusetts casino sweepstakes and, if nothing else, has guaranteed itself a chance of winning.
And if it succeeds, a Palmer casino could become a valuable feeder facility for Mohegan’s Connecticut gambling palace, while also helping buffer some of the inevitable losses that will come once a competitor gets going in Boston.
The Bay State’s Stake
So is Mohegan’s win-win situation ultimately in the interest of Massachusetts and its long-suffering taxpayers?
It’s a good question to ask, but a hard one to answer.
Mohegan can’t help but have a conflict of interest as it competes for a Massachusetts casino license, with every natural motivation to build a complementary, feeder facility rather than a rival to its Connecticut flagship.
And if Mohegan’s presence in the game has helped psych out other potential competitors from a swath of Western and Central Massachusetts, well that’s not good either.
Yet the bigger problem may be the way state lawmakers and Gov. Deval Patrick have played their hands in this high-stakes game of interstate casino poker.
Instead of dividing Massachusetts up into three casino zones, each with one license, Massachusetts might have been better off simply putting all three casinos on its borders, effectively intercepting gamblers and their money before they reach the gambling halls of Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Certainly, that is what New Hampshire is now looking to do in the border town of Salem and what a number of other casino states across the country have done without a shrug.
But of course, we are different here in the Bay State, so special really. And once again, we are paying the price for it.
Scott Van Voorhis can be reached at sbvanvoorhis@hotmail.com
