Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods set to get temporary gaming monopoly

When Connecticut’s two tribal casinos reopen on Monday, they may enjoy a rare regional advantage, with the surrounding states of New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island still uncertain when they will allow gambling resorts to resume business in the coronavirus pandemic.

In fact, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Maryland have not set dates for casino restarts, although tribal nations in northern New York plan on resuming business on June 10. Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo on Friday is expected to set an opening date for as late as mid-June or July.

Foxwoods Resort & Casino and Mohegan Sun won’t accept tour buses and will require visitors to wear masks and have their temperatures taken, but the relatively short driving distance from other states could make them monopoly destinations if their coronavirus pandemic protocols can ensure the trust of a gambling public that has been denied action for the last 11 weeks.

The entire gambling industry, like many other entertainment options, has been devastated by the coronavirus pandemic.

Gov. Ned Lamont in recent days has backed away from confronting either the Mohegan or the Mashantucket Pequot tribal nations over their scheduled June 1 reopenings in eastern Connecticut. The tribes are independent of Connecticut, but the state could suspend their liquor licenses.

But it seems unlikely now that teams of state commissioners, lawmakers and the news media have visited the casinos this week and saw massive changes, including Plexiglass shields and low population limits at table games.

“I saluted them,” Lamont said during an unrelated event in Hartford on Thursday. “I said, look, you’re a sovereign country, you’ve made that very clear. And you didn’t have to, but back in March, to considerable financial hit to yourselves, you did close down those casinos. And here we are two months later, we have some of the lowest infection rates not only in the state but the entire region in eastern Connecticut, in part because of the incredible sacrifice the tribes made. Obviously you’ve heard from me. I think the idea of opening up on June 1 is early. It’s earlier than Las Vegas.”

Twenty five percent of the total wagered on slot machines is remitted to the state, which earned about $265 million last year from the casinos. The controversy over the reopenings comes at a delicate time, when there are off-and-on talks with the tribes over the emerging sports-betting industry, which they maintain is their exclusive realm under the deals with the state that date back to the early 1990s.

Lamont said he wishes the tribes would wait longer to open their doors in the pandemic.

“Short of that I’d like them to put in stricter protocols,” he said. “I think that’s key for the public health of customers going in, their employees and the greater region.”

Lamont said he studied other state practices, such as in California, where casinos recently reopened. Tribal casinos are not allowing alcoholic beverages. “Alcohol is not great for social distancing,” Lamont said. “You’re taking off your mask. I thought that was a really important voluntary effort they made there.”

He said that Maryland plans tight controls on capacity and that tribal casinos in upstate New York are limiting patrons to the surrounding area, to avoid people coming from New York City and Boston.

Rodney Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal nation, which operates Foxwoods, said that 1,000 employees have already been brought back for training in the new health protocols.

“We appreciate the recognition from the state of the extensive work we have done at Foxwoods to protect the public,” Butler said Thursday, in response to Lamont. “Many of the precuations the governor mentioned are already well underway and we look forward to feedback from the commissioners.”

Elaine Driscoll, communications director for the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, said Thursday that there is no date there yet for reopening.

One of the chief competitors to Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun is the MGM Resorts Casino in Springfield, which has been engaged in a legal cat-andmouse game over a planned satellite tribal casino along the Interstate-95 corridor north of Hartford. MGM has also expressed interest in possibly developing a Bridgeport casino, plans for which date back to 1994, when the state Senate killed a plan for the city.

“Governor Baker mandated that casino openings will take place in phase 3 of the state’s phased-in approach to the commonwealth’s reopening plan,” Driscoll said Thursday. “The specific date will be determined by an assessment of the data and not yet known.

Rhode Island Gov. Raimondo recently agreed that she isn’t ready to reopen casinos either, but is interested to see how Las Vegas and other Nevada casinos do when they open up June 4.

“Opening up a casino ... man, you better get that right,” Raimondo said in a news conference. “And if that takes us a couple more weeks to get it right, I would much rather be safe than sorry.”

On Thursday she said that the Twin Rivers Casinos will open up on June 8 or 15, and that she would make a decision on Friday.

In Louisana, where several casinos were among the first to reopen on May 18, patrons are not required to wear face masks, but employees are.

In a related development, state Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, on Thursday said that since Lamont seems to have “softened his stance” on the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods reboots, it’s a reason for other businesses in southeastern Connecticut to also reopen, particularly indoor restaurants.

New London County is among the locations with the least COVID-19 infections, including 1,067 of the state’s total 41,559 cases, and 83 of the 3,826 deaths, according to the state Department of Public Health.

“Even Rhode Island is allowing indoor dining on June 1,” Fasano said.

Lamont plans that gradual indoor restaurant service in Connecticut won’t begin until around June 20, depending on health metrics including the rate of hospitalizations and testing.

kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT