News that southeastern Connecticut's casino-owning Indian tribes could pitch a casino in northern Connecticut prompted a response Wednesday from the target of such a facility.

"We fully anticipated that our competitors would react to our entrance into the market," Carole Brennan, a spokesman for MGM Springfield, said in a statement.

Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International, which won the western Massachusetts casino license once sought by Mohegan Sun, was set to pay its $85 million licensing fee this week following the failure of an Election Day referendum aimed at repealing the Bay State's expanded gambling law.

After the vote, work began immediately at the site of MGM's $800 million Springfield casino.

"MGM Springfield is uniquely poised to dominate New England's multi-billion dollar gaming market, while creating thousands of new jobs, and recapturing hundreds of millions of dollars currently being spent out of state," Brennan said. "We are confident that our innovative design, tested marketing plan and strong brand will make MGM Springfield a premiere destination resort casino in New England."

Wynn Resorts, another Las Vegas gaming giant, outlasted Mohegan Sun in the competition for a Greater Boston casino license and plans to build a $1.6 billion project in Everett.

On Tuesday, Mitchell Etess, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority's chief executive officer, said the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes could collaborate on a Connecticut casino project somewhere near the state's border with Massachusetts. The tribes would have to renegotiate their gaming compacts with the state before that could happen. The Mohegans own Mohegan Sun while the Mashantuckets own Foxwoods Resort Casino.

A spokesman for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Tuesday that no proposal has been presented to the governor.

Etess said Enfield, given its location on the Massachusetts border, could be a suitable site for a casino.

"We have not received any inquiries," Enfield's town manager, Matthew Coppler, said Wednesday. Asked how a casino proposal might be received, he said, "I wouldn't even want to speculate on that."

The MGM Springfield project calls for a 25-story, 250-room hotel, 125,000 square feet of gaming space, about 15 shops and restaurants and a multilevel parking garage. A dining, retail and entertainment district is also part of the plan. The project will generate 2,000 construction jobs and 3,000 permanent jobs once it's built, according to MGM.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com

Twitter: @bjhallenbeck