Foxwoods & Mohegan join forces to build another casino in Connecticut

Connecticut’s two casinos, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods Resort signed a partnership agreement Thursday at the states capitol to try opening a third gaming facility north of Hartford to compete with incoming casinos in neighboring states.

The new casino, authorized by a gaming act signed by Gov. Dannel Malloy in June, is expected to compete directly with MGM Springfield, and has been touted by supporters as a way to maintain Connecticut's casino revenues.

Denise Gladue, a Foxwoods employee said, “It’s very scary for us because when they open a lot of our business will probably go stay in Massachusetts.”

The agreement would be a step towards filling the gaming act's requirement that the new casino be a joint venture between Connecticut's two current casino operators, the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes. But the project is also facing a legal challenge from MGM Resorts International, which has sued Connecticut officials in federal district court, arguing that the new gaming act is unconstitutional.

In the August legal complaint, MGM puts forward a two-pronged constitutional argument: That the act violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, and that it violates the Constitution's Commerce Clause.

MGM alleges the law violates equal protection by limiting development to the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes to the exclusion of other racial and national groups, and violates the commerce clause by discriminating against out-of-state competitors.

While the Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods casinos are allowed under federal law granting tribes gaming rights on American Indian reservations, the new casino would be on state land. This, MGM says, makes the preferential treatment of the tribes illegal.

A recent study released by the two tribes estimates that about 9,300 people are at risk of losing their jobs if no action is taken. So far about five or six communites along the I-91 Corridor have expressed interest in housing Connecticut’s third casino.

Newly created “MM4CT” will manage the proposal process for selecting the site of the new casino, and Pearce Real Estate will administer the Request for Proposals from towns that are interested in hosting the new facility.  They hope to complete the process by the end of November.

Rodney Butler, Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Council said, “We are facing a serious challenge to Connecticut’s economy. Outside interest are developing an $800 million casino directly beyond our borders.”

They hope to stop gamers from going to MGM Springfield‘s 3,000 slots and 250 room hotel. The Connecticut tribes want to open their new 300 million dollar casino before MGM.

The Mohegan Tribe Chairman, Kevin Brown told 22News, “We still have to come back to this legislature and convince them that the location that we land with the developer that they team with is the right thing for the state of Connecticut. So we all have our work cut out for us at this point.”

East Hartford, East Windsor, and Windsor have all expressed interest in hosting the casino.