Boston-area Casino Proposals Discussed by Massachusetts Gaming Commission All Week

Massachusetts Gaming Commission will be discussing proposals for Boston-area casinos from Mohegan Sun and Wynn Resorts.

Massachusetts Gaming Commission is hosting talks on Boston-area casinos

• American gambling laws have already been changed to allow resorts in the state

• Mohegan Sun and Wynn Resorts are both applying for casino licenses

• The Board could vote as early as Friday

Massachusetts Gaming Commission has kicked off its scheduled meetings discussing the possible change in American gambling laws allowing online gambling activities in the state. The first meeting was held Monday, and was centered around whether plans on erecting Boston-area casinos will go ahead or not.

The body is scheduled to meet every day of this week, and could reach a decision on both land-based and online casinos in the United States as early as this Friday. The companies currently bidding to build casinos in the area are Mohegan Sun looking to erect a resort in Revere, and Wynn Resorts hoping to get a license for a casino in Everett. Naturally, if no decision is reached by the end of the week – the talks will continue next week as well.

Board members’ tasks

Each of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission board members has been given a specific task of taking a comprehensive look at all the aspects of the two proposals. They will then present their findings to a larger board together with ratings or each element, ranging from outstanding to insufficient.

Monday saw commissioner James McHugh hosting a presentation of the proposals’ building and site plans, while Enrique Zuniga was concerned with their financial outlooks.

The design of the casino sites

Many experts have already agreed that the Mohegan Sun proposal is far better in terms of building and site design. James McHugh praised the company’s design for the casino resort, while criticizing Wynn Resort’s plans, calling them “boring”. McHugh also has concerns about how well the traffic near possible casino close to Sullivan Square will be mitigated. He received the acting chair post, after Stephen Crosby recused himself from the dealings several months ago.

However, McHugh went on to praise Wynn Resorts’ plans to completely clean up the proposed casino resort site. One of the cleaning plans includes the use of oysters to help with the cleaning of Mystic River. As for the overall evaluation, McHugh gave Wynn’s proposal “sufficient” mark, while Mohegan Sun received “sufficient/very good” from the acting chair.

The finances

As for the financial evaluation, it looks like Wynn Resorts are at an advantage in this respect. Naturally, this part of the proposal has more weight over the design and could play a more crucial part in subsequent board’s decision.

Enrique Zuniga found Mohegan Sun’s proposal quite sufficient in terms of finances, however, he went on to note that the proposal is very much dependent on outside investors, which could lead to much lower flexibility coming from investors’ demands. According to Zuniga, Wynn Resorts have a better financial standing and are willing to spend much more.

Another important issue, Zuniga noted about the Mohegan Sun’s proposal, was their view of the market for the casino. Their focus is only limited to New Hampshire and Eastern Massachusetts. There are concerns that the guys at Mohegan may try and sway gamblers from Massachusetts to their premier casino resort in Connecticut, with much lower gambling taxes.

As for Wynn Resorts’ casino, it’s regarded as much better suited to be a central casino gambling destination throughout New England and beyond. Zuniga gave Wynn’s proposal “very good/outstanding” rating, while Mohegan Sun’s plans received “sufficient”.

The future

Today’s meeting is scheduled to be quite similar to what happened yesterday. Both economic and mitigation elements of the casino proposals will be examined by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission today. All of the commission’s members will be taking insight look at what the developers had to answer to the questions posed by the commission earlier. Naturally, the answers will be rated by the same standards as yesterday.

According to American gambling news, the conditions under which the companies will receive licenses to build the casinos, will be added to the proposals on Wednesday. Of course, after the conditions are added, there will be further discussions among the board members, with a possible vote to come on Friday.

Should either Mohegan Sun or Wynn Resorts, or both receive the license, focus figures will shirt to November. After which voters will be deciding if the law, which allowed building casinos in the area, will remain standing or not. According to the latest polls, the law will not be repealed.