MGM Resorts and Springfield, Massachusetts city officials reached an agreement earlier this year to see three new casinos in certain cities in the state. Voters had to approve the agreement before it could become official and now the agreement has been approved.
With the new law, the state will now have the option to create three new casinos which will all be full scale. This will be the first time the state will offer gambling options as in the past they have only offered lottery or horse betting options. The vote had just over 24,000 votes cast and it was 58% of the vote that were in favor of the new gaming option.
After this vote, the city of Springfield will now have to wait and see if the state Gaming Control Board choses the city as one to build a new casino. The MGM Resorts group has promised that they will provide the city with over $25 million each year if a casino of their group is chosen. The group has also stated they will also provide 3,000 jobs that will be permanent and then 2,000 temporary options, which will be offered during construction.
As always, there are critics of this deal. There are those who are worried that a new casino in the area will affect low income individuals as well as the elderly. However, those who are in favor feel as though the casino will be a perfect addition to the city. The city has struggled for a few years after the horrible tornados that ran through in 2011.
It is interesting to see the new casinos popping up across the United States. Hopefully this is a beginning to an easy acceptance to the gambling industry and we continue to see gambling opportunities open up across the US.