Leominster group pursuing fourth casino region

Rosenberg lobbying for expansion in north Worcester County

By Bruce Mohl Casinos 0 Comments Jun 22, 2022

A GROUP of Leominster business officials, with the help of former Senate president and now lobbyist Stan Rosenberg, is pursuing a long-shot, end-of-the-legislative-session bid to create a fourth casino region in Massachusetts in northern Worcester County. Under current state law, there are three casino regions in Massachusetts. The A and B regions are home to(...)

Roadmap to go on sports betting

Lawmakers can find consensus using approaches of other states

By Daniel Wallach and John Nucci Massachusetts Legislature, Sports betting 0 Comments Jun 9, 2022

MAY 14 MARKED the four-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision that struck down the federal ban on state-authorized sports betting. For four years, Massachusetts – home to one of the most sports-obsessed markets in the country in Boston – has watched from the sideline as nearly every other state in New England has(...)

SJC orders discovery into Everett casino land deal

Commission's role In slashing price of parcel under scrutiny

By Colin A. Young Everett, Wynn Resorts 0 Comments May 23, 2022

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICES THE ACTIONS OF the Massachusetts Gaming Commission almost a decade ago could be put under a new microscope after the Supreme Judicial Court ruled Monday that a lower court should look more closely at the “highly unusual character of the commission’s actions” related to the award of a casino license to(...)

Questions continue on lack of sports betting roll call in Senate

Spilka cites consensus on issue, but declines to say where she stands

By Katie Lannan Sports betting 0 Comments May 2, 2022

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SENATE PRESIDENT Karen Spilka on Monday defended the Senate’s decision to pass legislation legalizing sports betting without making individual senators’ votes known. Spilka for weeks had said she wanted to build consensus on the issue before bringing a bill to the floor. The voice vote approving the bill indicates at least(...)

Lesser says ‘broad consensus’ explains sports betting voice vote

Despite House-Senate differences, McGowan says odds of passage good

By Shira Schoenberg Sports betting 0 Comments May 2, 2022

IN A HIGHLY UNUSUAL MOVE, the Massachusetts Senate on Thursday voted for a bill legalizing sports betting by voice vote – sparing individual senators the need to record their position through a roll call vote and denying constituents the opportunity to know where each senator stands. Eric Lesser, the Senate chair of the Committee on(...)

Senate passes sports betting on voice vote

Bill has major differences with the one passed by the House

By Colin A. Young Massachusetts Legislature, Sports betting 0 Comments Apr 29, 2022

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE AFTER YEARS OF DISCUSSION and pressure from both inside and outside the State House, the Massachusetts Senate voted Thursday to legalize sports wagering, but lawmakers will have to reconcile the many differences between the Senate’s bill and the one that passed the House last summer before any bets can be placed.(...)

Senate plans to take up sports betting next week

Proposal differs from House bill on college sports, credit card bets

By Colin A. Young sports gambling 0 Comments Apr 22, 2022

THE SENATE IS POISED to debate legislation Thursday to legalize sports betting in Massachusetts, but the bill that emerged Friday afternoon from a Senate committee differs in several important ways from the sports betting bill that has already cleared the House. The long-awaited wagering bill was advanced favorably out of the Senate Ways and Means(...)

Encore reports best month ever in March

MGM, Plainridge Park also did well during the month

By Colin A. Young Casinos 0 Comments Apr 16, 2022

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MARCH WAS A GOOD MONTH for the state’s three gambling centers and the state’s coffers. Plainridge Park Casino, MGM Springfield, and Encore Boston Harbor cumulatively generated more than $102 million in gaming revenue, about $28.6 million of which will be due to the state. In terms of revenue, March was the(...)

Parsing words at the Mass. Gaming Commission

Encore concert controversy not going away

By Bruce Mohl 0 Comments Mar 11, 2022

MASSACHUSETTS LAWMAKERS MADE it pretty clear in 2014 that they wanted to protect midsize theaters from having to compete against event venues run by casinos, inserting into the gaming law that gambling licensees “shall only be permitted to build a live entertainment venue that has less than 1,000 seats or more than 3,500 seats.” The restriction(...)

Gaming Commission backs off oversight of Everett entertainment complex

Says regulation unnecessary as long as certain conditions are met

By Bruce Mohl Casinos 0 Comments Mar 10, 2022

THE MASSACHUSETTS GAMING Commission indicated on Thursday that it will not require a proposed entertainment complex across the street from Encore Boston Harbor to be subject to the commission’s regulatory oversight as long as Wynn Resorts agrees to address the commission’s concerns about the Everett project. Officials from Wynn indicated they would be receptive to(...)