Timing is everything in business and, apparently, Mass Gaming and Entertainment (MG&E), a casino developer, had poor timing in Massachusetts. After several tries at securing a gaming license for a casino in Brockton, Massachusetts, the company has been denied once again and, this time, it appears for good. MG&E has decided to wash its hands of Massachusetts.
The company, led by chairman Neil Bluhm, had first tried to introduce a casino to the state in 2016, but the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) politely declined, saying that the market was already becoming crowded. Bluhm then tried again in 2018, but the MGC was too busy to consider reversing its previous ruling. At the time, the MGC was making sure that the MGM Springfield launch went off without a hitch and that the planned construction for what would ultimately become Encore Boston Harbor was managed properly.
According to local news outlet and NPR affiliate WBUR, MG&E has been pushing the commission to reconsider its previous stance and the MGC has finally complied with the request. It wasn’t the outcome MG&E or Bluhm had hoped for, though, as the commission voted 3-1 to stay its course.
The main reason for not reversing its decision, according to the MGC, was because it didn’t have the authority to do so – once a decision is made, it’s final. However, this is objectionable, since the commission’s own lawyers admit that the MGC does have the authority to change its mind. However, the legal team warned that doing so could set a bad precedent for future decisions.
Bluhm was obviously disappointed by the ruling. He has said that he spent millions of dollars laying the groundwork for a casino in Brockton and the decision has left a sour taste in his mouth for Massachusetts. He told the commission, “To vote that you are not going to reopen this under any circumstance, I don’t know how I can continue to hang in here on behalf of Brockton. I’ve spent millions of dollars. To deny this request, I think you lose me. I can’t hang around. I’ve been doing this for more than five years.”
The real issue, more than the belief that the MGC cannot change its mind, most likely centers on a Massachusetts Indian tribe. The Mashpee Wampanoag have been trying to put together a casino plan for an area that is only 20 miles away from where MG&E wanted its venue.
The tribe first broke ground on the casino in 2016, but a series of legal setbacks since then has put the property’s future in jeopardy. The land that was to be used for the casino had been put in a trust, but that trust was later revoked and the issue has even made it to President Trump’s Twitter feed.
Bluhm isn’t the only one who is disappointed. Brockton Mayor Moises Rodrigues attended the MGC’s hearing and calls the result a “severe miscarriage of justice.” He added:
“We from the southeastern part of the state feel that Massachusetts ends around [Route] 128 and the rest of us are left with crumbs, we get crumbs, and we don’t have the ability to do much for ourselves because we often feel the state doesn’t do much to help us out. Any time an opportunity shows up or presents itself, for some odd reason the upper part of the state gets it, the western part of the state gets it, Boston gets it, and we are left with absolutely nothing.”
