Rush Street Gaming of Chicago eyes Mass

BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) - Massachusetts Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby let slip that there’s a new player at the table interested in competing for a Massachusetts casino license.  As commissioners scheduled meetings with casino developers this week, they noticed a new name in the pile.

“There was, there was one who had a corporate name we couldn’t identify, it was a new name,” said Crosby.

Rush Street Gaming of Chicago plans to meet with the Commission next week to talk about the application process.  Commissioners are happy to welcome them in.

“Competition is terrific.  Competition, as Chairman Crosby has said from the outset, and as we all believe, is really how we’re going to get the best value out of this legislation,” said Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner James McHugh.

The Chicago developer hasn’t said where in Massachusetts they’re interested in bidding for a license.  So far Western Massachusetts has garnered 4 solid proposals, southeastern Massachusetts is waiting on a tribal casino deal and Boston has only one proposal.

“We’re excited about the competition in the western region, we’ve actively encouraged competition at least in the Boston area, but we’re happy to see the activity in Western Mass.  We think that generates good proposals, solid proposals,” said Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner Bruce Stebbins.

Altogether 7 casino developers were scheduled to have one-on-one meetings with the Commission this week.  They were cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy.  The Commission has rescheduled the meetings to coincide with their public meeting on Tuesday.

During the one-on-one meetings, the Commission will work out the details with casino developers on which company officials will require background checks in the casino license application process.