ELEVEN OPERTORS BID FOR MASS. CASINO LICENSES
February 11, 2013
: A rendering of Penn National Gaming’s proposed casino for Springfield, Mass.
The Massachusetts Gaming
Commission (MGC) announced that 11 gaming applicants have officially submitted
the first application and the non-refundable $400,000 fee in a two-phase
application process toward the award of an expanded gaming license. Plans call
for the state to eventually issue three land-based casino licenses and a single
racetrack slot parlor license.
The companies that submitted applications and fees are:
MGM Springfield; Penn National Gaming, Inc.; Plainridge Racecourse; Hard Rock
MA; Wynn, LLC; Mohegan Sun; Sterling Suffolk Racecourse; Raynham Park; Mass
Gaming & Entertainment, LLC; PPE Casino Resorts; and Crossroads
Massachusetts, LLC.
The background investigations of all applicants for
Category 1 (resort casino) and Category 2 (slots-parlor) gaming licenses will
begin immediately. Each applicant for a gaming license, as well as their
qualifiers, will undergo the extensive background investigations to ensure they
meet the standards for good character, honesty, integrity and financial
suitability.
Investigations may
take up to six months to complete, dependent on the complexity and number of
qualifiers for each applicant. MGC will later announce when public versions of
the applications will be made available.
The Commission has already made significant progress in
planning the regulations necessary for the Phase 2 process, which will focus on
an applicants’ site-specific plans. Phase 2 regulations are expected to be
released summer 2013. MGC has also made a determination to first proceed with
the issuance of the single slots-parlor license in an effort to speed the
licensing process. It is anticipated that the slots-parlor license will be
awarded by the end of 2013. MGC anticipates the first resort-casino license to
be awarded on or before February 26, 2014.
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