MGM Resorts International, the developer of a Springfield casino and entertainment complex, Monday called on the operators of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun to release the economic analysis that led them to choose East Windsor and Windsor Locks as the best options for a Hartford-area casino.
"MMCT has indicated that the economic analysis was pivotal in their decision-making, and officials at the state and local levels, have a right to see the study firsthand," said Alan Feldman, executive vice president at MGM. "Communities should not be negotiating in the dark, and the public should not be kept in the dark."
On Friday, MMCT, a joint venture of the Mashantucket Pequots and Mohegans, said it eliminated three municipalities — East Hartford, Hartford and South Windsor — as possible sites for the first Connecticut casino off tribal lands.
Andrew Doba, an MMCT spokesman, said the tribes considered a number of factors, including what effect the sites would have on their existing businesses and which would keep the most gaming revenue in Connecticut.
"MGM wants nothing more than to distract from the only single point that really matters: if MGM wins, Connecticut loses," Doba said. "It's that simple."
The Hartford-area gaming venture has been pushed as a defensive measure against the competitive threat of MGM's $950 million development in Springfield. Construction is well underway and the venue is expected to open in late 2018.
MGM is challenging in court the state law that allowed the tribes, and no one else, to search for the casino site. It has heavily criticized MMCT for a "lack of transparency" in how it is pursuing sites, especially at Bradley International Airport.
"MGM knows that the two remaining towns under consideration will hurt their bottom line," Doba said.
On Monday, Feldman reiterated that the results of an economic analysis it commissioned concluding that "southwest Connecticut is the location that would result in the creation of many more jobs and the raising of significantly more revenue than would a casino in north central Connecticut."
Doba said MGM wants the casino in southwestern Connecticut "because it's as far away from their billion dollar casino in Massachusetts as possible, not because it's good for the state's economy."
MMCT has been considering for more than a year which site to choose, and it has been through two rounds of proposals. The tribes still need legislative approval when a site is selected. And there was the aim to have the Hartford-area casino open before Springfield.
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