With Casinos Coming To Massachusetts What Can Bay State Resident Expect

After a landslide vote to legalize two casinos and thousands of slot machines across the state by the House of Representatives -now we’re just waiting for the Senate to vote… sound familiar???– Many Massachusetts residents are wondering what exactly this means for them: Where will the Casinos be? When will they be open for business? How many jobs and how much revenue will they produce?

First off I’ll take a look at a few of the prospective locales for the two Casinos. One of the most likely groups that will receive a license is Mohegan Sun. Not only does the Mohegan Sun group have a lot of experience in the gaming industry along with the money necessary for such a venture, but they also have a 99-year lease on 150 acres out in Palmer Massachusetts.

A few other likely spots would be Milford, New Bedford, Middleborough, and Plainville. Of the four I would put Milford as the front-runner for the second casino spot. An investment group from Colorado headed by developer David Nunes, has already put down an intent to lease on hundreds of acres in the area, as well as going through the zoning and licensing with town officials.

The Casinos would likely be ready for business sometime around 2013, but the jobs would start rolling in as soon as ground is broken for construction. The two casinos would create thousands of jobs, as well as the resulting jobs for the general area.

The new model is to create self-contained “towns” for the casino and supporting businesses like stores, gas stations, hotels, and so on. Developers are now leasing large tracts of land on the outskirts of established communities that have good access to major highways and routes. By doing this the established area is less impacted in both terms of traffic, and handling a massive influx of new business. Of course, there would be a terrific increase to local businesses, but nothing that would suddenly reshape the community into a tourist destination.

Honestly, Massachusetts residents already have nearby options in Connecticut, not to mention slots available in both Rhode Island and New Hampshire, so fiscally the idea of introducing gambling to the state makes perfect sense. Hundreds of millions of dollars in gambling revenue are currently leaving the state, and New Hampshire is also in talks about expanding their gambling.

So, even though many people dislike the idea of having a casino in their “backyard” the reality of the situation is that the boost to the community far outweighs the few negatives associated with the gambling industry.