Five bids were received by the deadline last week to host the third Connecticut casino that will be a partnership of the parties that own the first two. The Mohegan and Pequot tribes, with the blessing of the state legislature, have joined forces to try to prevent gaming revenue from falling further than it already has. Revenue from their two casinos has fallen from .2 billion in 2006 to billion last year. They released a request for proposals on October 1 with a November 6 deadline.
They hope to get their satellite casino up and running before the projected fall of 2018 opening of the MGM Springfield.
The five locations are located in the towns of East Hartford, East Windsor, Hartford and Windsor Locks.
“The response we’ve received since releasing the RFP has been overwhelming,” said Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Council. “Our mission hasn’t changed. We want this new facility to be located in a community that wants us there and values the jobs and revenue we’ll bring.”
The next step, says Butler, is to evaluate the options and decide on a winner. MMCT Ventures, the partnership between the two tribes, hopes to make a decision by December 15. The Connecticut General Assembly needs to approve that selection. The next legislative session begins in February.
East Hartford Mayor Marcia A. Leclerc was most aggressive in promoting the bid from her town. The former Showcase Cinemas site is perfect for the casino, she says. The 25-acre site is visible from I-84, with more than 130,000 vehicles passing by daily and “represents a fully compliant package of municipal support, quick time to market, extremely high visibility from the highway and easy access from the Greater Hartford region.”
Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra isn’t quite as enthusiastic, but wants to keep options open for the incoming mayor, Luke Bronin, who was elected last Tuesday.
“It is our understanding that gaming is a probability for the Greater Hartford region and regardless of the location, the capital city will feel its impact,” Segarra told the AP. “For this reason, we have responded with our own proposal to keep that door open so that the next administration and the residents of Hartford will have the opportunity to weigh in on the process and make a final determination of what is in the best interest of our city.”
The head of the Connecticut Airport Authority wants to locate the casino adjacent to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, but the town council recently voted against a casino, so it’s unclear how the General Assembly would respond to an airport location.
Meanwhile, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has joined the legal team of MGM Resorts in its lawsuit against the Connecticut law that created a process for allowing the state’s two gaming tribes to establish a third casino.
Holder agrees with MGM’s contention that this process violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
MGM is preparing to break ground on an $800 million casino resort in Springfield. Any third satellite casino in Connecticut would be poised like a dagger to strike at the money that the MGM hopes to make by redirecting casino traffic away from Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
When Holder left the Justice Department earlier this year he joined the law firm that represents MGM. This week he sent a letter to Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen asking him to help the legislature find some other “constitutionally permissible” way to promote growth without allowing the state to discriminate against others, i.e. against his client.
MGM sued the state in August. Last week Jepsen filed a motion with the U.S. District Court in Hartford to throw the lawsuit out. A spokesman for Jepsen told reporters, “While we have great respect for Mr. Holder and his many accomplishments, we disagree with the legal conclusions he asserts on behalf of his client, MGM.”
A spokesman for the two tribes said last week that MGM’s strenuous efforts to keep the tribes from building another casino proves how effective it will be in keeping money in the state. He noted that at first MGM dismissed the proposed casino as nothing to worry about. “One thing is clear—with every step they pursue in this process, MGM is admitting that our plan to save Connecticut jobs and revenue is going to work.”
