Connecticut Tribes Decide To Delay Third Casino Target Site Date

The third casino that the state of Connecticut decided to approve has caused a lot of controversy and caused MGM Resorts to file a case against the Connecticut state government over the fact that the government decided to allot a casino license to the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes instead of inviting a request for proposal for interested vendors.

Connecticut decided to make a decision to legalize a third casino in order to be able to compete with the neighboring casinos that are expected to go live in the states of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The MGM Springfield facility which costs over $950 million is expected to open in 2018 and provide a lot of competition for Connecticut casinos. The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes decided to collaborate and build a third casino next to the state border in an effort to stop MGM Springfield from poaching gamblers in Connecticut.

The tribes want to build this third new casino near the state border line in an effort to stop Connecticut gamblers from going over the state border but also to see if the casinos can attract gamblers from the neighboring states. The Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes have created a new entity MMCT to launch the third casino and were given a deadline to fix on a location. MMCT were in receipt of five proposals and four of those came from municipalities from Connecticut. MMCT has the option of building a new casino at Windsor Locks, East Windsor, Hartford and East Hartford. Due to the fact that the location is yet to be finalized, the overall project will also be delayed for a short period of time.

In a statement, Andrew Doba, a representative of the MMCT said

After meeting with town leaders and given the overwhelming interest in this project, the MMCT Board has decided that more time is required in order to make a decision. We continue to do our due diligence, evaluating proposals and the economic impact of each site. We are mindful that towns have their own processes to work through, and we want to give them the ability to do that effectively. As we’ve said from the beginning, we want to be in a community that wants and values everything that we will bring with this investment.

Kevin Brown, the Mohegan Tribal Council Chairman stated that the third casino was being opened to directly compete with the MGM Springfield casino as it was important for Connecticut to protect its gaming revenue, shield its citizens from unemployment. The MGM Springfield project is expected to open in 2018 and many believe that the third casino in Connecticut will be opened before that.