When Plainridge Park Casino was ordered to shut down in March to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, Plainville Town Administrator Jennifer Thompson got concerned about her town’s finances.
Last summer, the town opened a newly-constructed $34 million municipal complex that officials have said has made a huge difference in the services the town is able to provide. But payments for that facility are made using the money the slots parlor is required to pay its host community each month, so the indefinite closure of Plainville’s largest taxpayer posed a serious threat to the town’s pocketbook.
“The company could have easily made the argument that they would not be able to honor their required monthly payments to the town. They, in fact, did the complete opposite,” Thompson told the Mass. Gaming Commission on Wednesday. “Penn National reached out to us very early in the shutdown and assured us that they would still provide the town with the much-needed revenue, especially given the dire financial situation the town was in.”
Thompson said Penn National Gaming, the gambling giant that owns Plainridge Park Casino, also “went the extra mile” and made payments to the town “well before the schedule that we had anticipated and agreed upon.”
The town administrator told regulators about the relationship between her town and Plainridge Park Casino during a virtual hearing held as the commission weighs the renewal of the slots parlor’s gaming license. Plainville municipal and public safety officials, state lawmakers, business owners and officials from surrounding towns lined up Wednesday to urge the commission to relicense Plainridge.
No one in an elected capacity or from the public spoke in opposition to the renewal.
“Whenever there is a need, they step up and they’re there. So they’re really a good neighbor and a good partner and a good friend. I think that is crucial and I think that is what we want out of our businesses, that they’re not just businesses plopped down in our communities and using our resources. They’re truly a member of the community,” Rep. Shawn Dooley, who represents Plainville, said. “It is a very, very positive environment.”
As the first facility licensed under the 2011 expanded gaming law, the Plainville slots parlor’s initial five-year license was the first to near expiration and require renewal. The license technically expired June 24, but it remains valid during the renewal process since the commission determined that Penn submitted a “timely and sufficient” application for renewal by the expiration date.
Since it opened June 24, 2015, gamblers have put more than $9.7 billion into the slot machines at Plainridge and the $250 million facility has generated about $777 million in gross gaming revenue. Forty-nine percent of that gross gaming revenue has flowed to the state as revenue, totaling $310.8 million in tax revenue and another $69.9 million in funding dedicated to the horse racing industry in a little more than five years.
Dana Fortney, Plainridge Park Casino’s vice president of finance, told commissioners that the facility has invested $7 million into capital projects since opening and has met or exceeded its goals for spending with diverse vendors from 2015 through the first quarter of 2020.
“Listening to the presentation, it really does remind me that Penn National really has been a good partner. They have been charitable, they’ve been responsive to their patrons, talking about some of the changes they’ve made whether that be food preferences or higher limit slots play … they have been responsive to the needs of the commission, frankly, and I just wanted to comment that the presentation just reminds us of all of those things,” Commissioner Gayle Cameron said. “They have been good for the commonwealth, frankly.”
The Gaming Commission was granted a lot of latitude in setting its renewal processes. The 2011 gaming law requires that the renewal process include a fee of at least $100,000 but not much else. The commission asked Penn to submit a bevy of information — on compliance with agreements and contracts, on the casino’s internal controls, on operations plans, on revenue and many more topics — to the commission to form the basis of the renewal application.
The commission also asked Plainridge executives to detail for regulators how the slots parlor has performed compared to the many goals the company set before the facility opened in June 2015, like its expected flow of revenue and what kinds of benefits would accrue to the surrounding communities. And investigators from the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau undertook a suitability review of all Plainridge executives and employees considered “qualifiers” by regulators. All licensees and their top executives must be deemed suitable to hold a Massachusetts casino license and are required to maintain their suitability at all times.
If the Gaming Commission approves Plainridge’s license renewal — a vote on which could take place as soon as Sept. 30 — the license would be renewed for another five years.
During Wednesday’s public hearing, lawmakers from the region who touted the benefits of Plainridge brought up an issue that’s out of the commission’s hand — the idea of authorizing table games at the currently slots-only Plainridge Park Casino, which was pitched as essential to Plainridge Park’s future success as it contends with two nearby Rhode Island betting facilities for southeastern Massachusetts’ precious gambling dollars.
“I think it’s important to note that Plainridge already competes with one hand tied behind its back, as the gaming landscape in our region has changed in recent years. As we compete for players and revenue that crosses our border each day to visit Twin River or Newport Grande, it is not lost on me that any long-term strategy for continued success at PPC must include expanded opportunities in the form of table games,” Sen. Paul Feeney of nearby Foxborough said. “And while I’m optimistic that sports betting will be helpful to Plainridge, if we can get that done in the Legislature sometime soon, we see the need to expand its competitive resources in order to protect Massachusetts jobs and revenue.”
A bill (H 368) filed by Dooley last year would authorize, but not require, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to allow Plainridge Park to add “up to 30 table games and an additional 250 slot machines” after considering “the employment and revenue benefits to the Commonwealth, community, and surrounding communities.”
That bill was put into a study order by the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies, effectively putting an end to its chances until it can be refiled in January.
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