Gaming Commission wants public input on Southeast casino
By Camila Beiner Contributing Writer
Posted Feb 25, 2020
BOSTON — Massachusetts gaming regulators are looking for public input as they decide whether to re-open the application process to license a casino in southeastern Massachusetts.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission issued a public comment at the end of January asking residents in Region C — composed of Bristol, Plymouth, Nantucket, Dukes and Barnstable counties — about the need for a casino as well as a formal request for information from market research firms. The deadline for both is March 16.
MGC commissioner Enrique Zuniga said the panel is looking for an experienced market research firm to answer a series of specific and business-related questions about the gaming market in Massachusetts and the economic impacts of opening up a new casino in Region C.
“We are generally targeting questions to understand more about the viability of the market, especially in the context of prior market studies and current results,” Zuniga said. “We want to see how likely it is that there could be a good proposal or a good viable license in that region.”
In 2016, the MGC voted against awarding a license for a casino at Brockton Fairgrounds in Region C. The 4-1 vote denied a $677 million bid from Mass. Gaming and Entertainment.
Zuniga said when the commission rejected the proposal there was still a possibility of the Brockton casino competing with the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s First Light Resort and Casino in Taunton.
“The prospect of the tribe eventually getting a casino in Taunton was going to have an end result in which we would have not one, but two casinos from that region, with the tribe paying zero percent in taxes to the state,” Zuniga said.
Zuniga said the tribe’s tax exemption would financially impact the other three casinos in the commonwealth that pay taxes worth 25 percent of gross gaming revenue to the state.
Since the MGC decision on the Brockton proposal, the federal Department of Interior has declined to grant the Mashpee Wampanoag land in trust where the Taunton casino would have been constructed. With the tribe continuing its legal challenges, Mass. Gaming and Entertainment asked MGC to reconsider building a casino in Region C.
“This is effectively what we are trying to determine at this point through public responses is whether we should take another look at it,” Zuniga said.
The Expanded Gaming Act signed into law by Gov. Deval Patrick in 2011 allows for up to three destination resort casinos in three different regions across the state and one single slots facility statewide. Southeastern Massachusetts is the only region in the state without a resort casino, although the slots facility is located in Plainville.
Zuniga said awarding the first license for a casino was straightforward and easy, but when they start to consider a fourth license it becomes complicated because it could have an effect on existing casinos.
MG&E spokesman Joe Baerlein said opening a Region C casino, specifically in Brockton would be a very profitable investment that could spur economic development for both the city of Brockton and the commonwealth.
A Brockton casino would create “almost 2000 permanent high paying jobs to Brockton and surrounding Region C communities, $10-12 million in annual payments to the city of Brockton and $700 million plus investment in the city,” Baerlein said, adding this would contribute over $100 million over a 10-year period in Brockton, which would help meet many of the city’s needs.
Building a Region C casino would also generate between $60 to $65 million in tax revenue to the commonwealth, as well as stop revenue from going to neighboring states, he said.
“When the legislature in Massachusetts passed this statute in 2011, the principal concerns raised by legislators is that the southern border of Massachusetts was exposed and all of that revenue was dumping out into two other states,” Baerlein said.
Connecticut and Rhode Island casinos have been “feeding off the backs” of Massachusetts gaming revenue for years and creating a Region C casino would significantly reduce the outflow of Massachusetts gaming revenue.
MG&E supports the commission’s decision for RFI and hope the market study shows a casino in Southeastern Massachusetts would be beneficial to the state.
“Once the commission does their market study and is satisfied that Region C can support a resort casino, we would hope that they would move expeditiously in the process of reconsidering the Brockton license,” Baerlein said.
Request for Public Comment: A Potential New Region C Category 1 RFA process
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is seeking public comment regarding next steps for Region C (Southeastern Massachusetts) and the Category 1 gaming license.
- Should the Commission consider re-opening Region C?
- Should the Commission consider the current performance of the existing casinos in deciding whether to re-open Region C?
- What, if any, role should the potential for Tribal Gaming in Region C have in the Commission’s consideration to re-open Region C?
- What other factors or issues do you think the Commission should consider or address if Region C is re-opened for a commercial gaming license?
Please email comments to mgccomments@state.ma.us with ‘Region C’ in the subject line, or by mail to:
Massachusetts Gaming Commission
101 Federal Street, 12th Floor
Boston, MA, 02110
101 Federal Street, 12th Floor
Boston, MA, 02110
Because the Commission is seeking parallel information through a RFI process, the deadline for comment submission is 5:00 pm on MARCH 16, 2020.
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