CASINO COULD GO WYNN-LESS
Executives ‘absolutely’ considering renaming it
The towering gambling resort rising over Everett will probably not carry Steve Wynn’s tarnished name, with casino executives saying they are “absolutely” considering renaming it after months of sexual harassment allegations targeting the disgraced former CEO.
“We are absolutely considering a rebranding of the project and we’ll have an announcement on that at a later date,” Wynn Boston Harbor President Robert DeSalvio said after a Massachusetts Gaming Commission hearing yesterday. “It’s under active consideration right now.”
A Wynn spokesman declined to say what names the company is considering, but public website domain registry information shows Wynn Resorts Holdings registered at least nine websites in recent weeks utilizing the company’s Encore brand, including encorebostonharborcasino.com, encorebostonjobs.com and encorebostonresort.com.
Wynn spokesman Greg John declined to comment on whether the company is considering the Encore name.
“Whenever we open a new resort, it is both policy and a good business practice to secure the domain names of all our branded business units,” John said.
The Encore is a sister hotel connected to Wynn’s flagship casino resort in Las Vegas, and is one of the few brands Wynn Resorts has that is not immediately preceded by the Wynn name.
As the Herald reported earlier this month, the Gaming Commission has been flooded with calls from residents and politicians — including Attorney General Maura Healey and Gov. Charlie Baker — to remove Wynn from the name in the wake of allegations of rampant sexual harassment and misconduct against Steve Wynn, who stepped down as CEO of the company earlier this year. In a statement, a Baker spokesman said the governor supports a review of the casino’s name. Executives at Wynn Resorts had previously pushed back on calls for a name change, saying doing so would have deep ramifications for the company. Wynn, whose signature is currently the company’s logo, was seen as so vital to the business that the prospect of his departure was listed as a possible risk in official Securities and Exchange Commission filings.
Clyde Barrow, a casino expert and professor at the University of Texas, said a name change would probably be a good decision for the company, but likely wouldn’t have a significant impact on the casino’s draw.
“I think it’s a fairly significant step and probably a wise move,” he said. “The Wynn company will persist with or without his name.”
The appearance by DeSalvio and other local Wynn executives was their first before the commission since the allegations against Steve Wynn were reported in January, and came a day after Wynn’s ex-wife, Elaine Wynn, said in a Las Vegas courtroom she told Wynn Resorts General Counsel Kim Sinatra of a 2005 settlement and rape allegation in 2009. Sinatra has denied hearing about the rape allegation.
Wynn Boston Harbor officials told the commission their project remains on track to open next summer and laid out their plans for workforce hiring and training. But during a section about how employees will be trained and what amenities will be available to them, executives did not include sexual harassment training, a significant oversight, commission chair Stephen Crosby said.
“This is stating the obvious, but maybe it isn’t as obvious since you didn’t state it, but I would think that in this kind of material you would want to make sexual harassment training ... a major part of your presentation,” Crosby said. “For reasons presumably not having anything to do with you, the Wynn culture you’re referring to has some shadows cast on it.”
Wynn executives said the entire company is undergoing a review of sexual harassment policies and training. DeSalvio did not address the allegations against Wynn except to acknowledge the ongoing investigations.