The Tribal Winds casino planned for East Windsor, Massachusetts by Connecticut’s gaming tribes is viewed as a bulwark against competition from MGM Springfield. But for now, the property called Tribal Winds remains a dream. City officials in East Windsor are beginning to wonder if Tribal Winds will ever happen. Some point out that the casino’s Facebook page hasn’t been updated in nearly a year
The former Showcase Cinema in East Windsor is still a vacant lot, although the cinema building was demolished in 2018 with a ceremony that included gold-plated sledgehammers. Originally MMCT Venture LLC, the development arm that represents the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes, said it planned to open the satellite casino in 2020.
At 14 miles from Springfield, the $300 million facility was intended to deflect some of the effects of the nearly $1 billion Springfield casino on the tribal bottom line. However, that casino has turned out to be not nearly as profitable as advertised. Gross earnings have been two-thirds of the $418 million the company told the Massachusetts Gaming Commission it would generate.
The effect on Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods hasn’t been nearly as catastrophic as they had feared. Mohegan Sun’s net revenue for the last fiscal year was $992 million, a 7 percent drop from last year. Foxwoods’s figures were $787.8 million, a 5 percent decline from $828.9 million.
Recently elected East Windsor selectman Jason Bowsza told the Springfield Republican, “I haven’t heard from them in quite some time. It’s certainly interesting from my perspective. I took office six weeks ago and have not heard from them. In the run up to acquisition and demolition we heard regularly.”
The activity is in federal court, where MGM Resorts International continues its fight to keep the casino from being built. MGM is suing to overturn the Department of Interior’s approval of an amendment to the tribes’ tribal state gaming compacts that allows them to operate a commercial casino, off their reservations. For more than a year, Interior withheld the approvals that would have allowed construction to go forward, and the tribes accused Nevada lawmakers of having undue influence over former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. After Zinke’s departure under an ethical cloud, the department approved the amendment.
Andrew Doba, spokesman for MMCT, told the newspaper, “We continue to make progress on Tribal Winds, including working with the state and federal government to get MGM’s latest round of litigation dismissed. We look forward to working with state leaders as we continue our effort to preserve Connecticut jobs and revenue.”
The tribes say the casino would generate 5,000 construction jobs and employ 2,000 in permanent jobs.
