Operator News
US – MGM files legal suit in Connecticut as tribes reject sports betting compromise
By Phil - 8 August 2019
MGM Resorts is taking legal action against the federal approval of a deal that would allow Connecticut’s two Indian tribes to open a third casino in the state, likely to be called Tribal Winds, in East Windsor, close to MGM’s casino in Springfield, Massachusetts.
MGM wants to challenge the Department of the Interior’s approval of a deal between the state and the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes, which will allow the tribes to jointly operate a casino.
MGM said: “The amendments are not limited to an East Windsor casino. They facilitate commercial, off-reservation gaming by the tribal joint venture anywhere in Connecticut and state legislators have recently proposed granting the joint venture an exclusive, no-bid license to operate a casino in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The amendments thus confer a statewide, perpetual competitive advantage on the joint venture. They circumvent IGRA’s land-in-trust process, which governs off-reservation gaming, and allow Connecticut’s federally-recognized Indian tribes to leverage their duopoly over tribal gaming to obtain a monopoly over commercial gaming in Connecticut.”
MGM has previously proposed building a $600m casino in Bridgeport itself. The tribes have rejected an option to cancel their plans to build Tribal Winds, in exchange for exclusive rights to offer sports betting in the state and build a tribal casino in Bridgeport.
Andrew Doba, spokesperson for the two tribes, said: “The choice for Connecticut policymakers can’t get any clearer. We can either let a Las Vegas company that generates not one dime of revenue for the state push us around or we can stand strong with the tribes and an industry that’s generated more than $8bn in tax revenue and currently employs 18,000 people. They [the tribes] are not willing to walk away from the Tribal Winds Casino in East Windsor, a project where they’ve invested nearly $20m.”
