New Casino East Windsor Ct
EAST WINDSOR, CT — Plans to build a casino and entertainment center on the site of the old Showcase Cinemas theater complex in East Windsor have been put on hold, according to an announcement Wednesday by leaders of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation and the Mohegan Tribe. The House of Representatives voted 103-46 in favor of the bill that allows the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes to build a casino in East Windsor to compete with a new MGM Resorts casino in.
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A rendering of the proposed casino in East Windsor.
Casino East Windsor Ct
Attorney General George Jepsen strongly warned the legislature Tuesday against allowing the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes to jointly develop a casino in East Windsor without the approval of the U.S. Interior Department, a condition of the 2017 law permitting the project to compete with MGM Springfield.
The opinion is likely to be the final blow in this legislative session to any hopes by the tribes to circumvent the requirement for Interior Department approval.
New Casino East Windsor Ct Gis
In a formal opinion sought by House Speaker Joe Aresimowicz, Jepsen said his office still views approval by the Interior Department of amendments to the state’s gaming compacts and memoranda of understanding with the tribes as necessary to guarantee the new project would not jeopardize Connecticut’s existing revenue-sharing arrangement with them.
“Our view of the risks of proceeding without federal approval of the amendments is unchanged. Indeed, subsequent events and actions of Interior only reaffirm our view that approval of the amendments is highly recommended to protect the State’s interests under the Compacts and the MOUs,” Jepsen wrote.
The tribes now pay the state 25 percent of the gross slots revenue at their two separately owned and operated casinos, Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, under deals that give the two federally recognized tribes exclusive casino gaming rights in Connecticut. That is expected to produce at least $260 million this year.
The Interior Department has refused to accept or reject proposed amendments to the gaming agreements, blocking construction of the jointly owned casino on a hillside overlooking I-91 between Hartford and Springfield. The state and tribes are suing the Interior Department over its refusal to act.
“To take action on the assumption that the State and Tribes will succeed in the onging litigation would be highly imprudent,” Jepsen wrote.
The tribes and MGM Resorts International have been engaged in a fierce lobbying war in Connecticut for nearly three years. MGM is intent on blocking the East Windsor facility, which was proposed after Massachusetts granted MGM a license to develop a $960-million casino resort over the state line in Springfield.
The East Windsor casino was mean to blunt the loss of market share to MGM Springfield, which is expected to open this fall. Massachusetts also has authorized a second casino in Everett, Mass., just north of Boston. The two projects, plus new competition in Rhode Island and New York, are expected to drive down the slots revenue paid to Connecticut.
MGM, a gaming giant based in Nevada, opened a new front in the casino wars last year, proposing a casino resort in Bridgeport. Expansion outside East Windsor would require the passage of new legislation that would end the state’s exclusivity deal with the tribal casinos and the revenue sharing.
Jepsen said the legislature could pass a law this year exploring the viability of casino expansion — without authorizing it — without jeopardizing the exclusivity deal.
In response to other gambling questions posed by Aresimowicz, the attorney general also advised that the tribes would not have exclusive rights to sports betting, should the U.S. Supreme Court strike down existing federal limits, as many court observers expect before the end of the court’s term in June.
“The Compacts set out a list of authorized games,” Jepsen wrote. “Sports betting is not listed as an authorized game. By contrast, for example, pari-mutuel betting on horse and dog racing and jai alai games are authorized games. The exclusion of sports betting from the specific list of authorized games is compelling evidence that the Compacts do not presently authorize it.”
The head of Connecticut's Mohegan Tribe said he remains hopeful a new casino can still be built in East Windsor, even though tribal officials announced this week now is not the time.
The two tribes operating casinos in Connecticut, the Mohegans and Mashantucket Pequots, had joined forces and planned to build a new casino called Tribal Winds.
But on Wednesday, they announced they were postponing the project indefinitely.
'It’s unfortunate that, you know, a global pandemic happened, and it’s just has forced us to put things on hold,' James Gessner, the chairman of the Mohegan Tribe, said in an interview Friday.
East Windsor First Selectman Jason Bowsza said he wasn’t surprised by the news.
'I think it makes a lot for them to make sure they have their existing operations on solid footing before they look to expand,' he said.
One possible consideration in all this: Governor Ned Lamont has indicated the East Windsor casino was complicating a potential deal on sports betting in the state.
Connecticut's two existing tribal casinos, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, have seen significant drops in revenue since the pandemic began.
The slot revenues at Mohegan Sun were about 18% lower in October 2020 than in October of 2019. At Foxwoods, slot revenues declined 24% during the same period.