MGM Resorts International’s delaying tactics appear to have paid substantial dividends in Connecticut, where the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes last week began demolishing an old cinema in East Windsor for their satellite casino—which probably won’t open until late 2019. That’s a full year after the MGM Springfield in Massachusetts will begin siphoning customers and money away from the tribal operations. That is to say, in September of this year.
Tribal chairmen Kevin Brown and Rodney Butler both spoke at the demolition ceremony—an intimate group of about 100. They promised to hire no less than 350 employees from Hartford, 150 from East Hartford and 175 from other towns—in addition to the hundreds from East Windsor itself for a total of 4,300 jobs. The demolition on the 26-acre site is expected to take about six weeks.
Referring to the tribes’ and state’s lawsuit against the Department of the Interior to force it to disgorge an approval of their amended tribal state gaming compact, Brown declared, “There have been a number of matters much like this one that have gone through the Department of Interior … and in each occasion, ultimately, it has been recognized that the bureau has to judge. Here’s the bottom line: we know that we are on the right side of this.”
He added, “We’ve been through too much already together to give up. And we’re not going to.”
MGM spokesman Uri Clinton commented on the ceremony. “The MMCT is no closer to legal approvals they require, and no closer to producing a realistic construction schedule than they were a year ago when they said construction would be completed in 2018. If ever there was a textbook example of there’s less-here-than-meets-the-eye, this is it.”
On the same day that earthmovers began smashing the old cinema buildings, the tribe filed briefs in that same federal lawsuit against the Department of the Interior, which, heavily lobbied by lawmakers from Nevada, held up approving the amended state tribal gaming compact the tribes needed to meet the letter of the Connecticut law the authorized the new tribal casino. The tribes are suing to force Interior to give that approval.
That sucking noise the tribes may hear in their inner ears is the sound of vast quantities of money heading 14 miles into the Bay State, away from their Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun casinos. With that incentive the tribes began demolishing the old Showcase Cinemas—which have been empty for a decade.
Although MMCT Ventures, the joint tribal authority, says the $300 million commercial operation with more than 200,000 square feet will take about 20 months to complete, some critics say it could be as long as eight years given two pending federal lawsuits and the need to obtain financing. The tribes originally hoped to have their casino up and running before the Springfield casino.
Connecticut Post Associate Editor Dan Haar wrote last week, it could take eight years to slog through two federal lawsuits, financing, and actual construction.”
The new casino will be built athwart Interstate-91, in a position to lure residents who might be driving 14 miles farther to Springfield to the $960 million MGM casino.
Waiting in the weeks, but very likely to happen is another MGM lawsuit challenging the law the legislature passed giving the tribes the license to build a commercial casino. MGM is likely to charge that the action violates the Constitution by not allow it to compete for the same license.
Meanwhile the legislature will soon begin hearings on a bill that would revoke that law and open competition for a third casino license to all comers, including MGM, which already has an offer on the table to build a $675 million casino in Bridgeport, the state’s largest city able to tap the New York City market. MGM proposes to pay a $50 upfront licensing fee for a casino that would create 2,000 jobs and pay the state about $316 annually.
That bill is seen as not having much chance of approval—at least this year. Nevertheless, the General Assembly’s Public Safety Committee has begun hearings on the bill, whose sponsors are from Bridgeport and New Haven, cities that would like to compete for a casino.
At the demolition ceremony Chairman Brown commented on the newly proposed bill: We’re not concerned about it. We know the state’s been with us and will continue to be with us despite all the airplay it’s getting right now. The state has been a great partner.”
Another bill would authorize an independent study of all forms of gambling; including crafting regulations for sports betting, should the ban on that be lifted by the U.S. Supreme Court. Three bills address the state lottery.
Complicating matters is the fact that the state is facing budget deficits, so lawmakers are anxious to find new sources of income. Besides casinos, they are exploring legalizing recreational marijuana sales and increasing tolls.
MGM spent $3.8 million last year lobbying state officials and is seen as likely to spend even more to preserve what it perceives as being its turf in Massachusetts.
Recently the First Congregational Church in Bridgeport held a public forum about casino expansion, led by the Rev. Dale Rosenberg, who has in the past fought gaming expansion in the state. He invited Senator Bob Duff, Rep. Terrie Wood, and First Selectman Jayme Stevenson to talk.
Last year’s bill that authorized the East Windsor casino was opposed by Wood, favored by Duff. The forum’s purpose was so both could hear from constituents.
Duff said the current bill is no more than a proposal. In the Darien Times story Duff said details are thin about the Bridgeport proposal. “It’s supposed to be more than a casino, according to renderings,” he said.
He noted that if the state decides to go with MGM’s Bridgeport proposal that would blow apart the existing 25-year-old compact with the tribes, and lose the state the 25 percent of profits the tribes now pay. That amount was more than $200 million in 2017, although ten years ago it was more than $400 million. Duff quoted MGM as claiming it could more than make up that amount by what it would pay the state from a Bridgeport casino.
Under questioning from Stevenson, Duff noted that municipalities such as Bridgeport get a large share of the 25 percent the tribes pay. Stevenson argued that towns near the existing tribal casinos, “were sold that casinos would be an economic benefit, and it’s actually the antithesis of that.” She believes that casinos prey on vulnerable populations.
The Selectman added, “And I would say that proposals to expand casino gambling in Connecticut are preying on the vulnerability of our weekend economy.”
Rep. Wood said she voted against the satellite casino bill last year. “I do not believe casinos are a viable option to energize our economy,” adding, “I do not support and will not support it for any reason.”
She said the uses for casino revenue has altered over the 25 years. “When casinos were voted in in the early ‘90s, a number of those funds were to go to education. Now it’s all going to the general fund. It’s just one more thing that’s promised for something, but is swept into the general fund, like so many other things we’ve done,” she said.
One member of the audience remarked that the casinos sucked the entertainment industry out of other cities. “Cities are the lifeblood of good economies, and our cities have been sucked dry,” said one man.
Another audience member said, “Connecticut seems to be pursuing policies that makes poor people poorer. Take the revenue from the slots. $200 million. That means $600 million comes out of people’s pockets.” The poor tend to be the victims, he said.
Senator Duff urged more thought on how to revive the city’s urban core. “If we don’t think this idea is a good idea, then what are the ways in which we can come together to support our urban centers,” he said. “I’m in agreement that we should be focusing on what we can do to revitalize our urban centers. Not having Bridgeport realize its full potential, to me, is terrible.”
