Massachusetts gaming regulators could reopen casino license competition

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission posted this week a query on its website and is asking for responses by March 16.

Southeastern Massachusetts is already home to Plainridge Park, a slots parlor and harness racing track. Not far across the Rhode Island state line, Twin River operates two casinos.

The gaming regulator is also separately soliciting experts to answer specific questions about conducting a market analysis to examine the economic impacts of a new casino in the region, WCVB reports.

The last time the state considered applications for the southeastern region casino license, it only received one proposal: a $677 million casino at the Brockton Fairgrounds.

The gaming commission ultimately declined to award the license in 2016, citing the potential for a casino glut in the region.

But Mass Gaming and Entertainment, the company that proposed the Brockton casino, has continued to ask the state to re-consider that decision because the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe’s casino project remains mired in legal challenges.

Massachusetts currently has two large scale, resort casinos. MGM Springfield is near the Connecticut state line and Encore Boston Harbor is north of Boston in Everett.