AG backs Connecticut tribes’ commercial casino

MGM Resorts’ lawsuit to block a third Connecticut casino should be dismissed, says Connecticut AG George Jepsen.

Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy approved legislation in June allowing the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans to issue a request for proposals from municipalities expressing their interest to host the state’s third casino. The tribes plans to build a jointly run $300m casino along Interstate 91, to compete with MGM Resorts’ $800m casino just across the border in Springfield, Massachusetts.

MGM got mad and since then vowed to block the tribe’s proposed commercial casino, which it described as “box of slots.”

To keep its promise, MGM filed a lawsuit in August against Malloy, saying that the bill he signed is “unconstitutional” because it gives the two tribes “preferential treatment” while barring out-of-state competitors from developing a casino in Connecticut.