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"The people of Springfield and Everett welcomed us to their neighborhoods. We know it's a privilege and we take it seriously. Our conversations will have no impact on the jobs at our facilities and the opening of Encore Boston Harbor. No matter where it takes us, we will make sure that our commitments are met and that those who welcome us to their communities will not be disappointed. "
The complications of such a transaction may be difficult to overcome, given that MGM owns a casino and a resort in Springfield and that a company is prohibited from holding two casino licenses in Massachusetts.
The $ 2.6 billion Encore casino hotel will open on June 23, after eight years of sales, design, competition, environmental clean-up and construction. Along the way, there have been lawsuits, resignations and a lengthy investigation by state regulators into allegations of sexual misconduct against Wynn Resorts founder and former CEO Steve Wynn. Encore would be the first and, by law, the only Las Vegas-style casino in Greater Boston, the state's most lucrative casino market.
Wynn Resorts CEO Matt Maddox and MGM CEO Jim Murren met in person in Las Vegas earlier this month, just days after the Massachusetts Gaming Commission completed 15 months of investigation and deliberations on the way Wynn Resorts handled the charges against its founder. .
MGM holds the unique casino license for western Massachusetts and opened the MGM Springfield resort last August. That was all the Gambling Commission was hoping for: a downtown well-integrated casino and entertainment center that had long been moribund, offering thousands of jobs and new revenue to the city, neighboring municipalities and in the state.
Under Massachusetts law, no company can hold more than one casino license, which would make a MGM a game for Encore Boston Harbor difficult, as the company would have to surrender its Western license of Massachusetts and likely sell MGM Springfield, a project that has years to build, cost about $ 960 million and has so far not been lower than the gaming revenue forecast. MGM executives have said that indirect revenues will improve as they build their marketing machine and know their customers better.
Any potential license transfer would also require the blessing of the gaming commission.
Another potential complication could lie in the agreements signed between each company and its host community and in the fact that Springfield or Everett would oppose a sale.
Wynn Resorts earned the Greater Boston license in 2014, beating Suffolk Downs and its partner Mohegan Sun at Revere.
Beginning 2018, with the construction of the Everett Resort on time and on budget, the future of the casino and the promised 5,500 jobs were in doubt. It all started with a devastating Wall Street Journal report in January 2018, which revealed allegations of sexual misconduct against Steve Wynn, then CEO of the company. Regulators in Las Vegas and Massachusetts have launched investigations. The charismatic casino mogul – widely recognized as the modern Las Vegas architect – soon resigned, sold his stock of Wynn Resorts and left the company's property at Wynn Casino Las Vegas on the Strip. Vegas.
Maddox was promoted from company president to general manager and construction continued while investigators were trying to determine who knew about the charges against Steve Wynn and what they had done, if any, about them.
In early April, Massachusetts investigators revealed their findings, claiming that some former Wynn Resorts officials had helped hide the allegations.
Under Maddox, the company had fired leaders who had not taken steps to remedy the charges and put in place new policies and training that, according to the company, would prevent any future complaints from being resolved.
Members of the Gambling Commission strongly insisted on Maddox's hearings for three days in April, before finally announcing on April 30 that Wynn Resorts would retain its casino license. The commission fined the company $ 35 million as well as a number of new license conditions. Wynn Resorts has not yet said he was going to appeal. Maddox said in a call for results last week that the company did not think the opening of the complex would be affected if it decided to appeal.
"I do not know if the opening date will be June 23 or a week or two later, because we'll make sure everything is perfect," said Maddox at the call of the results. "We can give ourselves another week, but the property is superb."
Wynn Resorts has made thousands of job offers to complement its workforce, and public expectations regarding this openness are intensifying. A Globe Story On May 6, the full list of names and styles of the resort's 15 bars and restaurants quickly became the most read on the Globe website.
The hotel will have 671 rooms in a bronze glass tower reminiscent of the company's flagship casino, Las Vegas; a ballroom and meeting space; spa; and a play area with table games, a poker room and more than 3,000 slot machines. Wynn Resorts has touted the fact that the Everett Project is the largest private development at a phase in the history of the states.
Information on a possible agreement between MGM and Wynn Resorts has already been published in spring 2018. Maddox then rejected this information.
"Boston is not for sale," he said in an interview for CNBC in April 2018. "I love this market. I found the earth. I have pursued this business. I signed the agreement with the host community five years ago. I liked this market then. I love this market today. "
You can contact Mark Arsenault at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @bostonglobemark.
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