Senate changes could help MGM casino bid

The imminent departure of three state senators could mean a new advantage for MGM Resorts’ effort to change the landscape for a third state casino.

At a time when Governor-elect Ned Lamont has proposed sitting down with all parties to discuss the new era of sports betting, his hiring of Sen. Tim Larson, D-East Hartford, co-chairman of the key Public Safety & Security Committee of the General Assembly, also removes one of the planned East Windsor casino’s key supporters.

Another lawmaker nominated by Lamont for a new position, Sen. Terry Gerratana, of New Britain, also supported the East Windsor site in a key May, 2017 vote. A third lawmaker, Sen. Beth Bye, of West Hartford, opposed commercial expansion of casinos, so her departure to become head of the Office of Early Childhood, is seen as another potential gain for MGM.

The East Windsor site lagged for several years as the tribes struggled to get the joint project off the ground and are now battling for it in the courts.

In addition, there is an active federal investigation into the role of with Ryan Zinke, the former secretary of the federal Department of the Interior, who threw up a roadblock against the project.

Meanwhile, MGM Resorts Casino in Springfield, which has pushed for a new process to select another casino site, possibly in Bridgeport, has been open for months, siphoning off a percentage of Connecticut gambling dollars that the tribes want to keep in-state.

“These changes, as with many other developments during the past year, demonstrate that as time goes on, more and more people are recognizing that the best move for Connecticut, unquestionably, is an open process for a commercial casino license and for sports wagering,” MGM said in a statement Tuesday. “That is the public’s view, and increasingly the view at the State Capitol.”

Last week, Lamont told The Hartford Courant he hopes to persuade the Mohegans and Mashantucket Pequots that sports wagering, already a reality in New Jersey, is a major opportunity and must be negotiated rather than allow the issue to languish in a multiyear court battle.

A spokesman for the two tribes on Tuesday charged that MGM has used “shady lobbying tactics” in an attempt to undermine the East Windsor site.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff said Tuesday it’s premature to forecast how the issues of gambling will pan out during the legislative session that starts Wednesday. “There are a lot of new legislators coming in, and it’s not an area here we’ve done a deep dive,” Duff said.

The Connecticut Lottery Corp. has also voiced interest in operating sports betting, but the current compact allows most gambling to be the sole purview of the tribal casinos, which give the state 25 percent of their total slot-machine revenue.

Any expansion of gambling would require negotiated revisions to the compact, which dates back to the early 1990s, when then-Gov. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. made the original deal with the Mashantucket Pequots.

“This has been a longstanding relationship but I just don’t think any one entity should be favored over another,” said House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, RDerby, when asked by a reporter Tuesday about the issue. “That’s why sports betting has to be very carefully written.”

A pro-tribal lawmaker, Sen. Cathy Osten, D-Sprague, cochairman of the legislative Appropriations Committee has submitted a bill in which sports betting would be licensed for casinos. Other entities interested in sports betting include MGM and other casino operators, Sportech PLC, which operates OTB parimutuel locations in the state.

“We appreciate the comments by Governor-elect Lamont over the weekend regarding sports wagering in the State of Connecticut, and the need for all interested parties to sit down together,” said Uri Clinton, MGM Resorts International’s senior vice president and general counsel. “We agree that such a discussion is in the state’s best interest, and we are prepared to take him up on his suggestion immediately.”

Duff said while there is a general agreement on the inevitability of sports wagering, so-called Internet gambling is more complicated, including computer applications.

“I think it’s too early to tell how it’s going to shake out,” Duff said.

Andrew Doba, spokesman for the two tribes, said that over the period in which the tribes had exclusive gaming rights under the compact more than $8 billion in revenue flowed to state government.

“In contrast, MGM has no vested interest in Connecticut other than making sure any developments here don't impact their interests in New York and Massachusetts,” Doba said. “Their shady lobbying tactics in Washington are currently under investigation and recent reports indicate may have led to the resignation of a cabinet secretary. They are not credible and they should have no seat at any table where the future of an important Connecticut industry is being discussed.”