As we look forward to 2017, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission is pleased to report that it continues to make significant progress toward its mission to offer, award, oversee and regulate the gaming licenses allowed by the Gaming Act. MGC would also like to take this opportunity to review some accomplishments and milestones of this past year.

First, here is a list of anticipated activities for 2017:

The second full year of operations of Plainridge Park Casino will conclude on June 30, 2017. Gaming revenue for the first quarter of FY17 was $39.8 million, which resulted in $19.5 million in revenues to the Commonwealth. Overall, for FY17 PPC could generate approximately $64 million to Local Aid, and $14 million to the Race Horse Development Fund.

We will continue to closely oversee the construction of the $2.1B Wynn Boston Harbor project and the $950M MGM Springfield project, with their total of 7000 construction jobs. 

We will continue to evaluate and improve on our responsible gaming initiatives. We have engaged a group of researchers to evaluate the GameSense program, the self-exclusion program, as well as the voluntary play management system “PlayMyWay.” The results of the evaluation will help us ascertain the effectiveness of these programs; meanwhile, we will continue to look for new and innovative ways to enhance the safety of casino gaming.

Harness Racing will continue at Plainridge Race Course and increase to the statutory 125 days for calendar year 2017. Suffolk Downs was approved for 6 days of live Thoroughbred horse racing.We continue to evaluate the feasibility of Thoroughbred Racing given the availability of monies for purses, and hope for action in the Legislature to reorganize the racing regulatory structure.

We will continue to work to maximize the economic benefits from the casinos. We convene and connect licensees to the Commonwealth’s workforce and small business resources. We bring together stakeholders to focus on local and diverse hiring and contracting, and report, monitor, and analyze diversity and affirmative action plans, efforts, and results by each licensee. Specific efforts include a promising expansion of apprenticeship programs within various union trades. And we expect to do research on new ways to continue to leverage the economic impacts of the casinos on their regions.

We will continue to make significant administrative progress in the implementation and staffing of additional functions. Such functions include:

-A Licensing Management System to license and register casino and slots parlor employees and vendors
-A Gaming Technology Unit for the implementation of testing protocols and procedures to ensure the machines and games on the gaming floor are operating as intended
-Further regulations that govern operations and functions at the gaming establishments, particularly table games that will accompany slot machines in the Wynn and MGM casinos

We continue to implement rules and procedures to ensure the integrity of the game. These efforts include:

-Promulgation of rules for table games in anticipation of workforce and training programs for dealers,
surveillance, security, and supervisory personnel at the Category 1 casinos
-Robust compliance, monitoring, and audit programs for the audit and oversight of operations of licensees
-Further regulations that govern operations and functions at the gaming establishments

We constantly monitor developments that affect the gaming industry to make policy recommendations. In particular, we will work with the Legislature to consider whether, and if so, how to legalize and regulate the rapidly developing range of online gaming options, including daily fantasy sports. In addition, federal and state policies concerning sports betting and illegal gaming will continue to impact the young gaming industry in MA. And we will continue to monitor the status of the Mashpee Tribe and their land-in-trust determination, which will have significant implications for Southeastern Massachusetts.

Second, MGC would like to share some 2016 activities and milestones from the state’s expanded gaming industry: