MGM says Mashantucket-Mohegan partnership should be invalidated
MGM Resorts International has asked a federal court to invalidate the Mashantucket Pequot-Mohegan partnership that’s launched a bid for a third Connecticut casino, saying MGM is “ready, willing, and able” to compete for such a casino itself.
In amending a lawsuit it filed against Connecticut officials in August, MGM seeks to put the brakes on a process that’s moving ahead at a brisk pace.
Connecticut’s casino-owning tribes signed an agreement last month establishing a partnership to solicit proposals from municipalities willing to host a so-called “convenience” casino that would compete against the $800 million resort casino MGM is building in Springfield, Mass., miles from Connecticut’s northern border.
Last week, the partnership, MMCT Venture, issued a request for proposals, which the state Department of Consumer Protection posted on its website.
MGM, in a filing this week in U.S. District Court in New Haven, repeats its claim that the law authorizing the tribal partnership — Special Act 15-7 — is unconstitutional.
MGM says the court should declare the law invalid, order Secretary of the State Denise Merrill to revoke the tribal partnership’s registration as a business entity, and order Department of Consumer Protection Commissioner Jonathan Harris to remove the partnership’s request for proposals from the department’s website.
The state of Connecticut, which has asked the court to dismiss MGM’s suit, disputes MGM's claim that Special Act 15-7 grants the tribes the exclusive right to pursue a third Connecticut casino.
"… SA 15-7 in no way excludes MGM from moving forward with developing a casino in Connecticut," the state’s motion said.
The state pointed out that the Massachusetts license authorizing MGM’s Springfield project would prohibit MGM from building another casino within a 50-mile radius of Springfield.
In its amended complaint, MGM says it has analyzed the Connecticut gaming market and that “having casinos both in Springfield and Connecticut would be commercially attractive …”
MGM says “there are many potential casino sites in Connecticut beyond the 50-mile radius restriction,” and specifically mentions Bridgeport, a prospective casino site in the 1990s.
“MGM and other casino developers often employ a ‘two-stop strategy,’ pursuant to which a single owner will own two or more casinos in relative proximity to one another, with the goal of capturing a greater share of the market than a single casino would be able to capture alone,” the complaint says.
MGM has employed the strategy in Las Vegas and Mississippi, and notes that the Mashantuckets and the Mohegans have sought to employ it as well. The tribes, owners of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, respectively, pursued licenses for casinos in Massachusetts, proposing projects that were rejected either by local voters or by state gaming regulators.
Twitter: @bjhallenbeck
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