Massachusetts Gaming Commission

   Now that MGM has opened the $960 million resort casino in downtown Springfield, Massachusetts, the company is facing a deadline to commit to a project to build off-site housing.

   Ten days before the opening of the state’s first resort casino, Massachusetts gaming industry regulators have put restrictions on the use of a large electronic sign promoting attractions at the MGM Springfield casino. 

         Massachusetts casino regulators met in Springfield Thursday for the final time before the opening in 21 days of the state’s first resort casino in the heart of downtown Springfield.

The first casino opened in Massachusetts three years ago and newly reported research has found few downsides.

The first resort casino in Massachusetts, scheduled to open later this summer in Springfield, will be able to serve alcohol into the wee hours of the morning.

   The first resort casino in Massachusetts, scheduled to open this summer in Springfield, wants to serve alcohol into the wee hours of the morning.  The state’s restaurant industry opposes a later “last call” at the casino.  

    With the scheduled opening of the first resort casino in Massachusetts less than 100 days away, MGM Springfield is eager to get people to apply for hundreds of jobs that are still open.

     An opening date has been announced for the first Las Vegas-style resort casino in Massachusetts. The announcement comes as a relief to officials and casino supporters in Springfield.

    With the first resort casino in Massachusetts opening in the fall of 2018, MGM Springfield has begun a campaign to attract potential employees.

    A special legislative commission tasked with coming up with recommendations about online gambling has issued its final report to members of the Massachusetts legislature.

MGM will likely miss a deadline for constructing part of its $950 million casino project in Springfield, Massachusetts.

        Massachusetts casino regulators are being urged to relax restrictions on people with criminal records getting jobs in the state’s casinos.

A milestone was marked and a labor union tradition honored today during the construction of the first casino in western Massachusetts.

     The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has launched a new advertising campaign to promote a program that will be used eventually inside all the state’s casinos to reduce problem gambling.

To satisfy a commitment to build market-rate housing in downtown Springfield, MGM has now apparently decided to redevelop a long-vacant building located just a block from its resort casino project.

The first casino under construction in western Massachusetts remains on pace to open as scheduled before the end of next year.  But, by then, the MGM Springfield casino may be facing a different competitive landscape.

        A new study finds financial and health problems are the most common negative impacts of gambling.

    The biggest construction project in Springfield, Massachusetts in nearly 50 years is causing downtown parking woes. The proposed solution to the problem: free valet parking.

     As construction ramps up on the $950 million MGM casino in downtown Springfield, officials are taking steps to offset the serious parking and traffic problems that have resulted.

        The Massachusetts Gaming Commission this week is highlighting its efforts to combat problem gambling.

         A number of events and promotions are planned as part of Responsible Gaming Education Week.

         The informational and outreach efforts will focus on a voluntary bet-limiting system called “Play My Way” that was introduced two months ago at Plainridge Park, the only operating casino in Massachusetts.  

Massachusetts casino regulators have approved a redesign of the MGM Springfield casino with the chairman of the state gaming commission saying he remains excited about the project’s potential to lift the economically struggling city.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is being asked to pay out more than $2.5 million from a special fund to resolve problems blamed on the construction of the MGM Springfield casino.

The Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, a community health center, and two suburban municipalities have applied for Community Mitigation funds claiming unexpected costs and other hardships as a result of the casino project.

Work has begun to clear the site in Springfield where MGM proposes to build the first casino in western Massachusetts. 

Work crews are tearing down the former Zanetti school building, marking the start of the major demolition work that will precede construction of the planned $950 million resort casino that is scheduled to open to the public in September 2018.

MGM Resorts International is planning to start demolishing buildings in mid-January to clear the site in downtown Springfield where the company intends to build the first casino in western Massachusetts.  2015 was a year of delay and downsizing for the casino project.

When MGM held the ceremonial groundbreaking for the Springfield casino in late March with the former Zanetti school building as the backdrop for photographs with construction workers and machinery no one would have predicted the building would still be standing nine months later.

The first Massachusetts casino, Plainridge Park, had customers lined up out the door for the grand opening in July.  But revenue from the casino’s 1,250 slot machines has fallen month after month since the spectacular opening. 

Massachusetts officials this week cut by nearly 40 percent the tax revenue they expect to collect from the casino. 

Clyde Barrow, a University of Texas professor, who has studied the Northeast casino market, sees no cause for alarm.  He spoke with WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill.

Massachusetts gambling regulators are pressing for more details on why the cost of MGM’s planned Springfield casino has ballooned.  The Massachusetts Gaming Commission, during a meeting in Springfield Thursday, heard mixed opinions from the public about changes in the project MGM is proposing in an effort to control the costs.

The latest plans by MGM Resorts International for building a casino in Springfield will be carefully scrutinized in the next few weeks by local officials and Massachusetts gaming industry regulators.  The public will also have opportunities to comment.

The city of Springfield’s Office of Planning and Economic Development has announced it has received a complete site plan application for the MGM casino project triggering a 30-day internal review and setting the stage for a public hearing by the city council within 45 days.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is scheduled to come to Springfield on December 3 for a public meeting where officials from MGM are expected to present a comprehensive cost and design analysis of the latest plans for a casino in the city.

MGM officials say the budget to develop a resort casino in Springfield has increased to $950 million -- $150 million more than the estimated investment when the gaming commission awarded a license for the project in June 2014.

The top executive from MGM Resorts International reaffirmed his commitment to the Massachusetts casino project in Springfield this week and apologized for a communications breakdown with City Hall over a proposal to reduce the scope of the development. He also said more changes are in store for the $800 million project, but nothing he would consider major.

Researchers are looking at the impact on Massachusetts from the introduction of large-scale casino gambling.  The project, funded by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, is looking not only at problem gambling, but also at whether the economic benefits touted by casino proponents become reality. Preliminary findings were presented at a recent forum in Springfield sponsored by Partners for a Healthier Community.   WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill spoke with the lead investigator, Rachel Volberg of the UMass Amherst School of Public Health.