Who is a member?
Our members are the local governments of Massachusetts and their elected and appointed leadership.
Following the defeat of a ballot question on Nov. 4 to repeal the state’s 2011 expanded gaming law, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission awarded resort-casino licenses to projects in Springfield and Everett.
Each developer, upon receiving its license, submitted the $85 million licensing fee. Both resort casinos are scheduled to open in 2017.
The ballot question, which failed by 20 points, would have outlawed table games and slots machines in Massachusetts, as well as prohibiting wagering on the simulcasting of live greyhound racing.
The state’s only potential remaining resort-casino license is for southeastern Massachusetts. While the expanded gaming law cites a preference for a tribal gaming facility, the law also authorizes the commission to award a license to a commercial applicant.
As the Wampanoag tribe of Taunton has worked on the federal process of taking land into trust – a requirement for establishing their casino – the Gaming Commission has created a parallel track for a potential commercial casino in the region. The commission has issued a request for applications for commercial developers, with an expected deadline at the end of January.
The Gaming Commission issued the state’s single slots parlor license in February. Penn National began construction in the spring and anticipates opening a slots facility in Plainville by June.