MGM Springfield fights back
MGM casino in Springfield Massachusetts seeks to avoid major competition in neighbour Connecticut as the government may approve a project.
US.- MGM Resorts has responded to Connecticut’s plan of approving a new tribal casino to compete with the upcoming MGM Springfield gaming center in Massachusetts. The casino company released yesterday a letter signed by U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to promote its Springfield venue and avoid the potential construction of neighbour casino in East Windsor.
“The Tribes and the State of Connecticut believe that operating a joint gaming venture on off-reservation land, as sanctioned by state law, allows them to and skirt the existing legal framework for pursuing off-reservation gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, (IGRA),” stated McCain in his letter. “As a principal author of IGRA, I have grave objections about the previous Administration’s apparent circumvention of over 25 years of Indian gaming law.”
According to The CT Mirror, MGM campaign asks Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to avoid allowing a new casino in Connecticut. The possible gaming center would be operated by the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes under its joint venture business, MMCT. During Obama’s presidency, the tribes obtained an advisory letter, which granted operators further permissions to expand the industry.
In his letter, McCain suggested Zinke not to “make the same mistake as the previous Administration and avoid issuing a technical assistance letter that would assist in an unprecedented expansion of off-reservation gambling.” The tribes commented that the letter is “an eleventh-hour tactic by MGM to stall our growing momentum,” as reported by The CT Mirror.
A key legislative committee passed on Monday the MMCT’s casino project. Meanwhile, Joe Aresimowicz, Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives, commented that Connecticut’s third casino is closer to a final approval.
