Twenty Bay State lawmakers took a tour of the $960 million MGM Springfield last week and discussed how it is impacting the surrounding and state economy. The jaunt was part of the 2019-2020 Commonwealth Conversations tour, which also included Worcester, Fall River, Brockton and Lowell.
Springfield Senator James Welch was the host, joined by MGM Springfield President Michael Mathis, who provided details and answered the questions of the lawmakers and their staffs.
Welch praised “all the exciting opportunities MGM is providing, not only from a gaming standpoint and an entertainment standpoint but really from an economic standpoint in the neighborhood and really in the region.” He called the casino “an overwhelmingly positive experience” and said the 3,000 jobs it provided was an economic boost to the downtown area.
Mathis patted his own casino on the back, noting that “Restaurants around us are booming, hotel occupancy around us is going up, and we’re providing careers to people that were desperate for some economic development,” and adding, “You walk the floors and you’re going to see people that bought their first homes, that are really on their first jobs and on their way to careers. It’s really a great story.”
Senator Michael J. Rodrigues said that he was “just so impressed. “It’s absolutely beautiful. It’s immaculate. It’s busy. People are happy. We are quite impressed with the thought and the forethought that went into designing this facility. So kudos to the MGM family.”
Senator Eric Lesser, who represents the area, called the tour “our chance to show off Springfield a little bit and show off this project.”
Senator Michael Moore remarked on the diversity of the jobs, especially middle class jobs, that are provided by the casino, noting that it filled a needed.
The casino company is negotiating with the city of Springfield to manage Symphony Hall, according to the Republican. The casino won the competitive bid over an offer by Lexington-based Spectacle Management Inc. CAO Timothy J. Plante reportedly told the newspaper, but the review committee wants to keep the process confidential, as state law requires. So it is not admitting publicly that MGM has won the bid for a five-year contract.
However, the apparent losing bidder, Spectacle Management, let the cat out of the bag when he told the paper that the city had begun negotiations with MGM. The casino company currently manages the MassMutual Center near the casino, and would like to manage Symphony Hall, which would help it to fulfill some of its obligations to up the quality of musical shows in the downtown.
Its Host Community Agreement commits MGM to underwriting, co-promoting, booking and scheduling at least three events annually at Symphony Hall and four events at the MassMutual Center.
Whichever company wins the contract would take over management of the hall by March 1, replacing the former manager, whose contract expired in December.
Encore Boston Harbor
Two weeks ago Wynn Resorts and the Nevada Gaming Control Board concluded an agreement that ends the panel’s more than 12-month probe of the company and its former CEO’ and founder Steve Wynn’s alleged sexual malefactions.
In the light of the conclusion of that investigation, Wynn CEO Matt Maddox assured jittery investors during the fourth-quarter earnings call that he is confident of reaching a similar arrangement with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, which has similar concerns and has conducted a similar investigation to determine the continued suitability of the company to hold a license for the Encore Boston Harbor, due to open this June.
Both investigations were launched in the heels of revelations from an expose published in January 2018 by the Wall Street Journal. Their purpose was to discover just how much executives knew of and covered up for Wynn’s alleged misconduct, which Wynn continues to deny. They also wanted to know if the new company culture and workplace environment fostered by the apparently squeaky clean CEO Maddox is sufficiently different from the old company culture.
The Nevada panel hit the company with an undisclosed fine and could also fine Wynn himself, although he no longer is connected with the company. The company admitted to wrongdoing and Wynn Las Vegas President Maurice Wooden resigned after admitting that he knew about some of the accusations against the CEO.
There have been some reports and demands for the MGC to yank Wynn’s license, but Maddox sounded optimistic that wouldn’t happen. He told investors “I’m sure you saw the press. Settled here in the state of Nevada on the regulatory issues. Everything except the fine. I want to commend the regulators for the extensive and thorough work that they’ve done in Massachusetts. They’ve taken this extremely seriously and I think that they’ve done a very good job and we’re now just looking forward to a hearing and for us to present our case.”
