As they continue to work out plans for the reopening of the country’s safe and socially distant gambling space, regulators at the Gaming Commission also hope to have everything they need to consider renewing the Plainridge Park Casino license before it expires in mid-June.
A competing casino in Connecticut is preparing for its June 1 reopening. But an early July reopening is likely the best-case scenario for the Massachusetts gambling center, which has been closed since March 15 and is part of the third phase of the Baker administration’s planned reopening.
The commission’s interim executive director, Karen Wells, said Thursday that the commission is still reviewing plans submitted by individual licensees last week and will provide detailed guidance based on the governor’s reopening plans for each casino visit dewapoker.
The guidelines, he said, would be “based on the governor’s mandate, other state and federal requirements, expert public health guidance as well as lessons from other jurisdictions that will open before Massachusetts.”
In addition to the June 1 reopening of Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun – which have published safety plans respectively, including Mohegan Sun limiting hotel stays to residents of Connecticut and Rhode Island – the company that owns Plainridge Park Casino, Penn National Gaming, opened this week. 10 casinos in Louisiana and Mississippi, and MGM Resorts plans to reopen two casinos in Mississippi next week.
“I think it will be very interesting for our team to see what positives and negatives come out of other casino reopens,” said Wells.
With at least six weeks until Massachusetts casinos are allowed to reopen, the commission will work on parallel lines to complete its first license extension.