MGM Drops Lawsuit Against Connecticut Tribes Over Proposed Casino

MGM Resorts has finally dropped a lawsuit filed against Connecticut tribal operators over their proposed East Windsor casino.

The lawsuit against the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes were dropped without prejudice and none of the parties involved in the lawsuit were willing to comment on the same.

When MGM resorts proceed to open its MGM Springfield casino in Massachusetts in 2018, Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes in Connecticut were concerned that it would eat into their gaming revenues as they expected players from Connecticut to cross over to MGM Springfield via East Windsor and spend their money at the MGM casino.

To counter this, the tribes proposed to develop a new casino at East Windsor in a bid to discourage gamblers from heading over to MGM Springfield. They were granted a license by the Connecticut government to do so and MGM Resorts was not happy with the development.

MGM Resorts filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia claiming that Connecticut and the tribal operators had entered into an illegal agreement because Connecticut granted the tribal operators preference to develop the East Windsor casino when it should have launched a bidding process to see if other interested parties like MGM wanted to bid for a casino license. The East Windsor casino project was to be built away from the reservation.

Connecticut and the tribal operators tried to get the lawsuit to be dropped in the past but were unsuccessful until now.

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Why MGM Dropped The Lawsuit

The reason why MGM dropped the lawsuit is due to the new compact that Connecticut and the tribal operators signed recently. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont and his team put together a new compact that gave the tribe expanded gaming options which included launching sports betting in the state.

One of the terms of the compact required the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes to drop the idea of their proposed East Windsor casino for a minimum of 10 years. Gov. Lamont deliberately inserted this clause in order to shelve the East Windsor casino project and get MGM to drop their lawsuit.

MGM is still interested in doing business in Connecticut via its BetMGM sportsbook. The Connecticut Lottery Corp (CLC) is currently in the process of reviewing proposals from five sportsbooks who responded to an RFP to partner with the CLC. A representative of the CLC refused to deny or confirm if BetMGM was one of the five sportsbooks who had sent in a proposal.

The betting operator will be finalized by the end of June but their name will only be made public when an official agreement is signed.