Tribes finally get green light for third Connecticut casino

The legislative sessions have finally drawn to a close, and the exclusive right to open a third casino in Connecticut has been handed to a joint tribal venture, leaving commercial operators out of luck.

The protracted battle for the rights to operate a third casino venture in the north eastern state of Connecticut has drawn to a close with a joint venture between the Mohegan and Mashantucket Pequot tribes coming out as victors.

The bill still requires the formality of official authorisation from the state’s governor, Dannel Malloy, who commented he believes the legislation, and legal reasoning around it to be sound, indicating there will be little issue regarding this.

Speaking following an event held at the Mohegan Sun Casino, Tribal chairman Kevin Brown said the governor and the federal government are all on the same page when it comes to authorizing the state’s first casino off of tribal land.

Ryan Zinke, the secretary of the Department of the Interior, spoke during the event, a significant appearance for the groups in attendance and for the state, said Brown.

“It was really monumental to see the state of Connecticut’s governor Dannel Malloy stand with the secretary of the interior particularly in the shadow of this agreement that we’ve struck with the state to build a third casino,” he commented.

The overall decision represents a loss for MGM casinos who had supported a rival bill, and spent in excess of $1.6m trying to sink the tribal plans in order to protect a $950m resort casino the giant is building across state lines in nearby Springfield.