Massachusetts Casino Bosses Meet Over Background Checks

The two biggest players in the push for a new Massachusetts casino have met to discuss the ongoing background checks being run into their companies. With tough, intensive checks being run by the US state, both MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts are worried that the same criteria will be applied to their Macau operations as to their US operations.

With American gambling laws much tighter than Macau regulations, the fear is that these major players could be denied licenses for simply taking advantage of lax laws, not because of any breaches of regulation. So both companies, as well as the state gambling commission, are urging the report to take into consideration differing worldwide laws.

The chairman of the commission, Stephen Crosby, said: “This is a nuanced area, this is a complicated area. How do you weigh a company’s behavior in other jurisdictions if they’re complying with laws that are woefully less rigorous than your own? Does that matter? It’s a legitimate question.”

With the first
American internet casinos arriving in November, companies are gearing up for a change to the world’s most developed gambling market. While Las Vegas has been overtaken by Macau as the world’s biggest resort, and revenues dropping in places like Atlantic City, the next generation of gamblers are ripe for the picking.

Along with the potential mobile casinos
in New Jersey, Nevada, and Delaware, companies like Caesars are making inroads into MGM Resorts and Wynn’s market share by combining their online and offline businesses. With Caesars one of the main competitors for one of the two Massachusetts licenses up for grabs.

MGM is after the Western Massachusetts license, with plans for a casino in downtown Springfield, while Wynn is competing for the Greater Boston resort casino license, and they have plans for a massive $1.3 billion resort on the Mystic River in Everett.