MGM would talk with tribes, state for casino

It’s been clear for months the only way Connecticut will see a new casino in the next few years is through negotiations — not just with lawmakers over a bill, but with MGM, the tribes and the governor to reach a lasting settlement.

That’s what Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim wants to see and that’s what I’ve said has to happen in order to break the stalemate between MGM Resorts International and the tribes, operating jointly as MMCT in the planned East Windsor casino.

Now MGM appears to agree.

In a letter to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy Monday, MGM laid out its case for open bidding the Las Vegas company hopes will lead to a commercial casino in Bridgeport, and asked to meet with the governor, who could well oppose the plan.

“Additionally, we are willing to participate in multiparty talks that will allow the policy considerations to be placed in their proper context as the state considers how to adapt and modernize its gaming laws,” MGM said in the letter.

Translation: MGM seems to believe it can win a casino license in the state’s largest city faster and with more favorable terms through talks than by driving a controversial bill through the General Assembly allowing open bidding, then coming back in the future for another vote in the Legislature if and when it wins that bidding.

Makes sense to me. Even though the open bidding bill cleared the Legislature’s Public Safety Committee in a 22-3 vote last month — after a measure that would have revoked the tribes’ East Windsor license was removed — the bill is far from assured, and the steps to follow are fraught with death traps for MGM’s plans.

Besides, the best outcome for state taxpayers is best reached through negotiations. That’s because MGM and the tribes have a sort of mutually assured destruction when it comes to opening a commercial casino in Connecticut.

MMCT, which is the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribal nations working together, has a state permit to open in East Windsor but faces the likelihood of years of lawsuits before anything can happen.

MGM faces significant political opposition to its $675 million Bridgeport plan, even though it’s the best place in Connecticut for a commercial casino. That development would suck up customers heading from New York, who wouldn’t have to drive to Mohegan Sun and the Pequots’ Foxwoods Resort.

The tribal compact under which Connecticut gets 25 percent of tribes’ slot machine revenues would become null. Malloy, in his final months as governor, might not sign a bill that would forsake the state’s take, an amount that will drop below $200 million next year, without an agreement.

So what would a deal look like? It’s way too soon to know whether we will even see any talks, but you have to figure the size of the tribal payments, the size of any new casino and MGM’s legal battle against the East Windsor plan are all chips on the table.

MMCT has said all along that MGM has no real leverage and that the tribes have no reason to negotiate.

But MGM said similar words until Monday. In its letter to Malloy, MGM laid out the argument that the casino compact is obsolete, with the specter of urban casinos, sports betting, online betting and more — any of which the tribes could claim as part of their duopoly from a generation ago.

For now, the tribes may believe they have no reason to enter talks if they think they can beat back the legal challenges in East Windsor and beat back the openbidding bill that could open the door to MGM.

But if any of that falters, and it will one way or another, a negotiating table in Hartford, say, at the Governor’s Mansion, may be a fine place to spend a few spring afternoons amid blooming rhododendrons.