The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) announced today that the first application (RFA-1) in a two-phase application process toward the award of a Category 1 (resort-casino) license in Southeastern Massachusetts (Region C) is due on January 30, 2015.  The second application (RFA-2) will be due on May 26, 2015. Interested entities can locate the RFA-1 application and instructions at MassGaming.com.

In an effort to expedite licensing, MGC developed a bifurcated process, RFA-1 and RFA-2, to first allow for the determination of background qualifications and suitability of applicants for Category 1 (casino) and Category 2 (slot machine) gaming licenses in advance of the review of an applicant’s entire or ‘site specific’ application. An applicant cannot submit an RFA-2 application until it has successfully completed the RFA-1 application and has also been deemed ‘suitable’ by the Commission after an exhaustive background investigation.

Potential applicants interested in applying for a Category 1 license in Region C are encouraged to contact the Commission, specifically the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau, to schedule a meeting to determine which entities and individuals are required to qualify in the RFA-1 application phase. At these meetings the Commission will review the information outlining the applicant’s intended ownership and governance structure in order to determine the qualifiers. Interested applicants must schedule a scoping meeting with the Commission at least two weeks prior to the RFA-1 application deadline. No later than one week prior to the scoping meeting, the applicant must provide the Commission with (a) a list of entities and individuals that the applicant believes are qualifiers under 205 CMR 116.02, (b) a list of entities having more than a nominal ability to exert control over the applicant entity, (c) a list of entities owning greater than a 5% interest, either voting or financial, in the applicant or in an entity owning a 5% interest, either voting or financial, in the applicant, (d) an organizational chart showing upper level positions held by individuals in each entity noted above, (e) an ownership chart showing the owners of each entity noted above (for public companies only show ownership greater than 5%), and (f) a list of entities and individuals for which the applicant is requesting waiver under 205 CMR 116.03 and the reasons for the request.

MGC anticipates awarding the Region C resort-casino license in Fall 2015.

Additional Facts about Region C:

• The Commission has taken a series of actions to promote competition in Region C which includes deadline extensions for applications.
• On April 17, 2014, the Commission voted to change the calculation of the minimum capital investment for Region C by including the cost of infrastructure outside the property boundaries.
• At the June 26, 2014 meeting, the Commission decided to open Region C to new applicants. Previously, it had been open to only those applicants that had applied for Region C by September 30, 2013 and to Region A (Eastern Massachusetts), B (Western Massachusetts), and Category 2 (slots-parlor) applicants.
• On June 26, 2014, the Commission also decided to amend the Commission’s regulations to allow for the inclusion of capitalized interest in the calculation of the minimum capital investment for Region C.
• UPDATE: Thus far, MGC has received a single Region C specific  RFA-1 application and the $400,000 application fee from applicant, KG Urban. KG Urban’s background investigation, conducted by MGC’s Investigation and Enforcement Bureau, is now underway.   Applicants that were not successful in other regions or for the Category 2 slots-only license are also eligible to apply for Region C.