Lawmakers from Bridgeport, Connecticut are renewing their efforts for a commercial casino in the state’s largest city.
The latest bill was introduced by Rep. Ben McGorty, whose district includes Bridgeport. It would require the state to seek proposals for a casino and repeal the monopoly for a third casino that the state granted in 2017 to the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes to operate in East Windsor at a defunct cinema off Interstate 91, about 14 miles from Springfield, Massachusetts.
The tribes currently operate Connecticut’s Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun.
The 2017 granted MMCT Venture, LLC, the joint authority of the two tribes, the right to operate a casino in East Windsor as long as the Department of the Interior passed on the amended tribal state gaming compacts that allowed a commercial casino without voiding the exclusivity guarantee of the compacts.
The bill is nearly identical to one that MGM Resorts International pushed last year for $675 million casino in the city. MGM has been a thorn in the side of the state’s gaming tribes, fighting their East Windsor casino at every stage. The bill—minus the provision withdrawing authorization for the tribal casino—passed last year by a vote of 77-73 in the House, but died in the Senate.
The tribes pay the state 25 percent of their profits in exchange for exclusive rights to Las Vegas style gaming. MGM has pointed out that this amount has declined over the years until last year it was $270 million, and says it can more than make it that amount if allowed to operate a commercial casino in Bridgeport.
However, new figures released by the state would indicate that previous predictions of how much MGM was going to affect the bottom line of Foxwoods and The Mohegan Sun may have been overblown.
Last week the General Assembly’s Office of Fiscal Analysis estimated that the casinos’ slots revenue paid to the state would be $248.6 million for fiscal year 2018-2019. That’s $20 million more than the estimate two months ago.
The numbers were revamped because the MGM Springfield has not taken as large a bite from tribal revenues as had been feared. State budget planners had expected as much as a 25 percent drop taking into account the MGM casino and the expected opening of the Encore Boston Harbor in June. Now they are projecting a 9.2 percent hit.
A spokesman for the Office, Chris McClure, told the Day, “What has happened in reality is that Encore has been a little bit delayed. And when MGM came on board, we are still experiencing a decline, it’s just not as severe as we thought.” He added, “I’m not sure we can accurately place where the variable are.” He added, “It’s not as bad as we thought it was going to be. Maybe we were too pessimistic.”
Since the MGM Springfield opened, slots revenues have declined 7.1 percent at Foxwoods and 6.7 percent at the Mohegan since. However, it has not affected attendance at non-gaming activities such as trade shows and concerts.
Foxwoods CEO Rodney Butler in an interview with the Hartford Business Journal observed, “Other than their splash at opening, MGM Springfield haven’t done a lot of entertainment. That might be contributing to their lack of performance on the gaming revenue side.”
The $965 million MGM Springfield has itself failed to meet expectations. It had projected $418 million for its first year, at $34.8 million per month, but has so far grossed less than $23 per month during in October, November and December.
On the other hand Foxwoods’ hotel occupancy is better than 90 percent and ticket sales have been unaffected at Foxwoods’ 4,000-seat Grand Theater.
Last week Foxwoods announced that it had hired retired Boston Red Sox player David Ortiz, aka “Big Papi,” to be an ambassador for the resort. He will appear in upcoming marketing campaigns for the resort, and take part in gaming tournaments and hosted events.
Butler commented, “We are so thrilled to welcome David Ortiz to the Foxwoods team, solidifying a unique partnership between two New England institutions,” adding, “Big Papi knows a thing or two about hitting it big, and we’ve hit the jackpot in adding him to our lineup to engage with guests and elevate the Foxwoods brand in his new role with the organization.”
The Mohegan Sun’s ticket sales at its 10,000-seat arena also appear untouched and its hotels have a more than 95 percent occupancy rate.
Meanwhile, competing bill has been introduced by supporters of the tribes, including Senator Cathy Osten, that would allow the tribes to operate in East Windsor, but without the blessing of the federal government. MGM has so far been able to stall that approval—or at least that is the allegation of the tribes and several Connecticut lawmakers who accuse the Interior Department of being unduly influenced by Nevada lawmakers. MGM is based in that state.
Complicating the politics of these proposals is an apparent effort by the newly installed governor, Ned Lamont, who has asked the tribes to consider developing a casino in Bridgeport.
Mohegan Chairman Kevin Brown told the Day “We’ve had discussion, primarily based on our government-to-government relations. During those discussions, he asked, ‘Would you be interested in looking into Bridgeport?’” Brown added, “There could be other things that involved gaming, betting and the entertainment world. A casino could be in the mix but nothing’s been decided.” Under this proposal, said Brown, MMCT would build and operate the casino.
