The state gambling commission said today it is encouraging competition for gaming licenses, arguing that it will make proposals better and thus help realize the objectives of the expanded gambling law.
“Significant competition among potential casino developers will invevitably sharpen the proposals,” the Massachusetts Gaming Commission said in a statement this afternoon.
The commission said it was responding to a Boston Globe article this morning in which Caesars Entertainment chief executive Gary Loveman said he foresaw no other competitors for the Greater Boston area casino license, which is likely to be the must lucrative license in the emerging gambling market in the state.
Caesars has partnered with Suffolk Downs to propose a $1 billion gambling complex at the racetrack site in East Boston.
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“I think it’s unlikely [another bidder will surface] because the cost of now mounting a bid is substantial,” Loveman told the Globe.
But the commission said today that it “encourages and will welcome aggressive competition for gaming licenses in each of the regions it regulates.”
“Members of the Commission strongly believe that statutory objectives to maximize jobs, amplify revenues, enhance the overall draw for out-of-state patrons and mitigate impacts on surrounding and host communities will best be achieved by a competitive process comprised of multiple, high- quality applicants,” the commission said in its statement.