The Massachusetts Gaming Commission began work to create a process for renewing the license for Plainridge Park Casino (PPC). The slots parlor, operated by Penn National Gaming, was the first of the Bay State’s gaming enterprises to be approved under the 2011 gaming expansion law, but that law doesn’t give any guidance for renewals. That is left up to the commission.
At last week’s commission meeting Karen Wells, director of the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau asked for a general policy directive from the panel on how to proceed with the renewal. “. . . So we know what we’re expected to do for this renewal.” She added, “And the range could be from the deep dive to do nothing, and, you know, because there’s ongoing suitability.”
The property’s five year license expires June 2020. Wells suggested a process for renewal that would be similar to what the IEB uses for slot and table game manufacturers.
The property had already been a simulcast horse wagering park since 1999. But in 2015 slots debuted. Under state law, the PPC is classified as a Category 2 casino, while the other two casinos are classified as Category 1. PPC is taxed at 49 percent of gross revenue. It has paid $336.93 million to the state since opening. Category 2 casinos must renew their licenses every five years while Category 1 casino licenses are renewed every 15 years.
Wells told the commission: “As we’ve discussed, once license suitability is ongoing and the burden is on the applicant to maintain that suitability and provide information to the commission, there is a continuing duty to report. And our experience with Penn National is they have a very good system of reporting.”
Wells would like to use that system, and the Penn employees whose job it is to keep IEB informed and who work closely with it, to create a renewal plan that won’t be reinventing the wheel.
Commissioners said they would also like to use the slots renewal as a template for when MGM Springfield’s license comes up for renewal.
Chairman Cathy Judd-Stein commented, “I can say more affirmatively, to use these critical resources to really duplicate efforts that have already been done.” She added, “So I would just reiterate that a decision to not do the quote, unquote, deep dive at this time is in no way compromising, or in any way not indicating the importance of our vigilance. It’s that we have been vigilant during the course of the period.”
