Much ado about Massachusetts

CrosbyStephen Crosby, phlegmatic chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, makes a very unlikely looking lightning rod. But such he has become. He’s already drawn the wrath of Gary Loveman and now Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh wants Crosby to recuse himself from all Beantown-related matters. According to Walsh, Crosby isn’t just prejudiced, he’s anti-Boston. “Taken together, the pending federal lawsuit [by Loveman], recent commission statements, current press articles, and the commissions’ own actions, create a cloud over the proceedings when Chairman Crosby participates,” wrote Elizabeth Dello Russo, Walsh’s lawyer.

martinjwalsh-headshotDello Russo also launched a preemptive strike at the commission’s forthcoming hearing on Boston’s eligibility to be a “host community.” “The Commission proposes no process for the City to obtain discovery from the applicants. It eliminates the City’s opportunity to call witnesses, to cross-examine witnesses and to create an appropriate evidentiary record that is subject to legal review,” Dello Russo vituperated. “It also fails to address the burden of proof and a mechanism to resolve factual disputes based on documentary submissions with no live testimony. In sum, the proposed procedure represents a thinly veiled attempt to ‘stack the deck’ against the City on the ‘host community’ issue …

Walsh is himself playing a dangerous game. He’s got a bird in the hand (surrounding-community status) but wants the two in the bush. Walsh can’t be so clueless as to know that putting the Wynn Resorts and Mohegan Sun proposals up to votes in Charlestown and East Boston, respectively, will surely doom them. He seems to be seeking host-community status for Boston so that he can blow the whole thing up. A strange cat, this Walsh.

Already, Walsh is threatening to pull a sulk, sit out the MGC’s hearing and take his case to court. (Steve Wynn and Mohegan Sun’s Mitchell Etess must think they’ve wandered into a madhouse.) He’s also provided the unsolicited advice that the commission look into convicted felon Charles Lightbody and the possibility he has hidden ownership in the land Wynn intends to buy. We’re sure the MGC is well aware of that problem.

neil-bluhmIn other MGC business, Neil Bluhm scored a victory, with the commission agreeing to change the prerequisites for the southeast region. Now developers can spend only (!) $500 million on the casino itself and the other, required $250 million can go toward infrastructural improvements. However, to the dismay of Fall River and Foxwoods Massachusetts, the MGC clung to its delayed, September deadline for applications. It would seem a miracle if the Interior Department could make a land-in-trust for the Mashpee Wampanoags in that time frame. However, it gives New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell and KG Urban Enterprises the extra time Mitchell sought to come to terms. “Time is not the problem. The marketplace is the problem,” Crosby opined, describing the struggle in Region C as “It’s more like a baseball bat fight in a dark room.”

Crosby was clearly unimpressed with what he’s heard — or failed to hear — from Foxwoods, expressing doubt over its ability to meet the $500 million threshold: “Their silence has spoken really clearly to me on this one.” He noted that a host-community agreement, promised by April 3, still has yet to be delivered, leading Foxwoods spokesman David Nunes to say the agreement would be vouchsafed in September (quite a ways from April 3).

MGM Springfield paintingOut west, MGM Resorts International has agreed to put $6.75 million toward revival of Union Station in downtown Springfield. MGM would use its 44,000 square feet for office space. If the station isn’t ready in time for the casino opening, MGM will pay a half million dollars a year to to the Springfield Redevelopment Authority. MGM hopes that habitual train travelers from, say, New York City, will bypass gambling options closer to home to check out MGM Springfield. Considering that the latter has the look of a first-class facility, MGM’s hope isn’t as crazy as it might sound at first blush.

For the first time, multi-state, progressive slot play is in action, networked with Caesars Entertainment and Boyd Gaming properties in New Jersey. And it premiered in, of all places, Deadwood. I kid you not.

How confident is Tioga Downs? (Answer: Very.)

This entry was posted in Architecture, Atlantic City, Boyd Gaming, Foxwoods, Harrah's, Massachusetts, MGM Mirage, Mohegan Sun, Neil Bluhm, New York, Racinos, Regulation, Steve Wynn, Technology, Tribal. Bookmark the permalink.