
Regulators Vet Casino Sale to MGM Real Estate Trust
The Gaming Commission began Thursday to wade through a sale-leaseback transaction for the MGM Springfield casino and MGM’s real estate investment trust.
The Gaming Commission began Thursday to wade through a sale-leaseback transaction for the MGM Springfield casino and MGM’s real estate investment trust.
It’s pretty clear MGM’s nearly $1 billion casino is not living up to boosters’ expectations. But the massive gambling and entertainment complex has still put one of the state’s poorest cities, back in the game.
MGM has installed thousands of solar panels at its resort casino in Springfield that can supply up to 10 percent of its power needs.
With a new rival in the form of the $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor casino and potentially more competition in Connecticut, can the $960 million MGM Springfield, meant to revive a struggling region, turn around its own fortunes?
MGM Resorts filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging the federal approval of a deal that would allow Connecticut’s two Indian tribes to open a third casino in the state, just across the state line from its newest facility.
Connecticut’s governor wants the state’s two federally recognized Native American tribes to move their proposed third casino from East Windsor to downtown Hartford.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers from around Connecticut announced Wednesday they’ve crafted a wide-ranging compromise bill that could lead to two new tribal casinos in the state and legalized sports betting.
MGM Springfield counted $22.29 million in revenue from its slot machines and tables games last month and the slots at Plainridge Park Casino generated $14.84 million in revenue in May, a cumulative total of $12.84 million of which will flow to the state.
“I wouldn’t lie to you, there are quite a few things I’m worried about. But I think we have them all under control,” Peter Campot, head of Wynn Resorts’ design and construction arm, told the Massachusetts Gaming Commission Wednesday.
The discussions between Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts around a possible sale of the soon-to-open Encore Boston Harbor casino in Everett are over and Wynn Resorts says it is committed to its Boston-area project.
After agreeing to pay a $35 million fine for misleading state regulators, and just five weeks before a grand opening, Wynn Resorts is in talks to sell its $2.6 billion Encore Boston Harbor casino in Everett.
The state’s two full-scale casinos are sure to compete for customers, employees and attention, but MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor could also be competing to see which casino can be more environmentally friendly.
Connecticut’s two resort casinos experienced yet another month of declining slot machine revenues in March, bringing their losing streak to nine months. At the same time, the MGM Springfield casino saw a substantial increase in all types of gaming revenue.
MGM Resorts International, which operates a large casino in downtown Springfield, has struck a deal to take over management of the city’s Symphony Hall.
Construction is about to begin for what is likely to be the first full-scale resort casino to open in Massachusetts.