Caesars Entertainment is working with Suffolk Downs to build a casino at the racetrack site in East Boston.
Jon Chesto
Managing Editor, Print- Boston Business Journal
Caesars Entertainment hasn’t landed the casino license for the Boston region yet, but that hasn’t stopped one of the company’s top executives from joining the region’s tourism board.
John Payne, Caesars’ president for central markets and partnership development, has been elected to a three-year term on the board of the Greater Boston Convention Visitors Bureau. Pat Moscaritolo, the bureau’s CEO, tells me Payne’s first meeting will be in November.
It will probably take much longer than that before we learn which resort casino proposal wins the license for the Greater Boston region. Wynn Resorts already has a referendum victory in Everett for its casino proposal there. Foxwoods in Connecticut is also trying to expand with a resort casino in Milford. So the Massachusetts Gaming Commission could have three applicants to pick from when decision time arrives next year for the sole Greater Boston license. (The Caesars casino, which would be built at Suffolk Downs, also needs a referendum approval.)
Moscaritolo says he initially approached Caesars to learn more about the referral partnerships that the company has with hotels and restaurants in several other cities where Caesars has casinos. Eventually, Moscaritolo extended an invite for a rep from Caesars to join the tourism bureau’s board.
“It all happened as a result of my trying to get more information about this partnership program that they operate,” Moscaritolo says.
Moscaritolo says Payne has served on a similar board in New Orleans, and he fully expects the board members of his agency will benefit from Payne’s experience and expertise. He says Payne didn’t discuss what would happen to his role if Caesars didn’t end up winning the bid for the Boston area casino license.
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