Following two decades of rolling in the money generated by twin casinos in eastern Connecticut, the state”™s past decisions to block other gambling venues ”“ including in Fairfield County on New York”™s doorstep ”“ may finally be turning up snake eyes.
After Massachusetts approved three new casinos within its borders, New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft unveiled plans to build a $1 billion casino adjacent to his Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., in partnership with Las Vegas operator Steve Wynn ”“ who years ago appeared interested in building a Fairfield County casino.
In an August brief, analysts with Moody”™s said the introduction of casinos in Massachusetts would have a profound and long-term impact on Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. In a September meeting of the Connecticut Gaming Policy Board, staff member Frank Virnelli concurred, saying the new Massachusetts casinos could threaten not just gambling hauls at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, but also concerts and other general events.
Meanwhile, after several delays, New York City”™s Aqueduct Raceway opened a new “racino” at the end of October, potentially siphoning off New York patrons of Connecticut”™s casinos. Aqueduct plans to have more than 4,500 video lottery terminals and nearly 500 electronic table games, including roulette and craps.
If Connecticut is waking up to a new era of casino resort competition ”“ racinos are now in place as well in Yonkers, N.Y., and in Rhode Island ”“ the state made its own bed on the issue.
Former Gov. M. Jodi Rell and current U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal fought efforts by the Kent-based Schaghticoke tribe to secure federal recognition with an eye toward creating a casino in western Connecticut.
And in the 1990s the Connecticut state Senate rejected a bill that would have authorized the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe that runs Foxwoods to add a casino in Bridgeport. Opponents in the 24-10 vote included current Attorney General George Jepsen; current Connecticut Department of Revenue Services Commissioner Kevin Sullivan abstained and current state Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney voted in favor.
A spokesman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy did not immediately respond to a query on whether the governor plans to reconsider an expansion of Connecticut”™s casino landscape.
Massachusetts residents made 7 million visits to casinos and slot parlors in Connecticut and Rhode Island in a 12-month period covering 2010 and 2011, according to estimates by researchers at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth”™s Center for Policy Analysis. Bay Staters spent an estimated $857 million at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, according to UMass, pouring $86 million into the coffers of Connecticut”™s government via the casino spigot.
The Mohegan tribe that runs Mohegan Sun also owns land in Palmer, Mass., where it is working to secure one of the three available Massachusetts licenses to build a casino.
“Massachusetts residents are still the straw that stirs the drink when it comes to visitations and spending at New England”™s gaming venues,” said Clyde Barrow, director of the Center for Policy Analysis, in a statement accompanying the study.
It may be time for a new straw vote on newly authorized casinos, some think ”“ perhaps affording the expansion-minded Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes an exclusive negotiating window to produce a casino proposal for western Connecticut ”“ and otherwise opening it up to other bidders if no deal materializes.
“Too bad ”¦ Connecticut chose not to pursue commercial casinos (such as the one proposed for Bridgeport, with backing from Las Vegas”™s Steve Wynn),” wrote University of Connecticut economist Arthur Wright, in a research paper published earlier this year in The Connecticut Economy. “In cutting the crown-monopoly deal with the Mashantucket Pequots (later extended to the Mohegans), Connecticut effectively created the conditions for a huge entry barrier into its casino market by commercial interests.”
