Grab your Walkman and your shiniest pair of dice — it’s time for our weekly jog over to the site of Springfield’s $800 million gamble: a brand spankin’ new MGM casino resort in the South End.
Many are already singing the corporation’s praises. And since the complex doesn’t open until late 2017, no one has to change their tune anytime soon. If MGM does finally jump-start the ailing city, we may change our tune. Until then, we’re putting together our own soundtrack. Here are the greatest hits on our casino playlist this week:
If I Were a Rich Man: On May 4, MGM reported that quarterly profits rose in the first quarter of 2014, up from $103 million to $169.8 million. That’s not even including the profits from tickets to the May 2 boxing match between convicted domestic batterer Floyd Mayweather and anti-gay religious zealot Manny Pacquaio, which the MGM Bellagio in Vegas was selling for $18,000 a pop (they even threw in a two-night stay at the hotel!).
Takin’ Care of Business: MGM also reported an 11 percent drop in revenue for the first quarter of 2014. But don’t fret about the future of American gambling just yet — the company is attributing this loss mainly to a recent crackdown on corruption by the Chinese government, which has led to a 49 percent drop in gambling revenue in Macau. For those of you who follow international business: Macau is the autonomously governed Chinese city where MGM’s properties typically rake in over a billion dollars annually. For those who don’t: Macau is the city from that scene in Skyfall when James Bond hit on a sex slave, then fell into a pit of komodo dragons and knocked a guy out with a briefcase.
On The Road Again: Do you miss parking on lower State Street? Now, for a limited time, you can relive the glory days! MGM has temporarily opened up the parking lot across from the Hampden County Hall of Justice. It’s not clear exactly when the re-opened lot will re-close — it’s kind of a chore to plan the demolition of 19 buildings, after all — but since all the other parking lots in the casino footprint have been closed, it’s kind of nice to see one pop up again — kind of like spotting an endangered lowland gorilla in the mist.
Go Down Gamblin’: Slot-hoppers everywhere rejoice: on May 6 the state approved the developers of a proposed $650 million casino in Brockton, Mass. The project still needs to go to referendum this month, but it’s a promising step forward for Brockton-based partners Mass Gaming and Entertainment and Sweeney Investments as they compete with other developers for the state’s third and last remaining resort casino license. The building in their proposal is said to capture “a New England style,” meaning that it will be built out of red brick. Sexy enough to attract a high-rolling casino crowd, yet safe enough to withstand Big Bad Wolf attacks.•
Where will the chips ultimately fall in Springfield? Send your predictions to editor@valleyadvocate.com
