Gaming | MGM sets August opening date for Massachusetts casino

The fate of Wynn’s glitzy Boston-area casino may still be up in the air, but rival MGM says it is on track to open Massachusetts’ first Las Vegas-style casino resort sooner than expected.

MGM Resorts International President Bill Hornbuckle said that the company is now targeting Aug. 24 as the new opening date for the USD960 million hotel and casino complex it has been building in downtown Springfield.

The company previously envisioned the casino opening sometime in September, but relatively mild winters and steady progress on a nearby highway project impacting the casino have allowed construction to move slightly faster than anticipated, he said.

Hornbuckle, like other company officials in recent weeks, declined to address reports the company has been quietly negotiating with Wynn Resorts to take over its more than $2.5 billion project on the Everett waterfront, which is slated to open sometime next year.

“We have a longstanding policy that we’re not going to speak on rumors,” he said. “Whatever happens in Boston is up to the gaming commission, and that story is yet to be told.”

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has been investigating allegations of sexual misconduct by Wynn Resorts founder Steve Wynn and what the company’s board might have known about them. The results of the investigation might impact the company’s license to operate in Massachusetts.

But taking over Wynn’s development in the more desirable Boston market would require MGM to find a new owner for its casino in the western part of the state. Massachusetts law prevents casino operators from holding more than one state gambling license.

Gambling analysts have suggested the Indian tribes that operate Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods resorts would be the most obvious suitors if the Springfield property became available, though a spokesman for the tribes shot down the idea. MDT/AP