This week’s casino news delivers a little bit of bad news and a little bit of good. We’ll start with the bad news as the new MGM Springfield casino in Massachusetts has had a fairly negative impact on the neighborhood so far.
MGM Springfield Reportedly A Crime Magnet In Massachusetts
The MGM Springfield is MGM Resorts International’s newest property but the early reports back haven’t been so positive. Police in Springfield, Massachusetts have painted an ugly and alarming picture of the casino in terms of crime. They’ve indicated that the casino was the site of nearly twice as much crime in its first four months of operation than the what Penn Gaming’s Plainridge Park Casino dealt with throughout 2018. Plainridge Park is the state’s other big centralized gaming location.
Massachusetts State Police tallied 208 incidents and 120 arrests inside the MGM Springfield between September and December of 2018. There were 16 larcenies and robberies, five assaults, and two sexual offenses. The 2018 total for Plainridge Park was 115 incidents total.
That’s not all. There were 22 crimes reported in the area surrounding the casino in the three months before its August opening, and 115 crimes in the five months following that opening. As MGM hopes to expand, they’ll have to find a way to clean up this mess in the Springfield neighborhood or future destinations will shy away from welcoming them in.
Corona Resort Will Make History In Vietnam
The Corona Resort and Casino will make a name for itself when it opens this Saturday. The facility is reported to be the first casino in Vietnam which will offer large-scale gaming choices such as slots, blackjack and roulette. The opening will take place on the country’s southern island of Phu Quoc.
The venue, which cost $2.14 billion to build and complete, was built and overseen by a state-owned company, the Phu Quoc Tourism Development and Investment Company JSC. It will be accompanied by a golf course and a theater. The casino will be run by that company in partnership with Dutch management firm Upffinity Gaming Management.
The opening of the Corona Resort and Casino will mark the first time that Vietnamese nationals will be allowed to gamble inside a domestic building. However, the two-story casino will only be accessible to patrons over the age of 21 and who can prove a monthly income of at least $431. They are trying to avoid having people with marginal incomes coming in and losing the little they have.
Iowa Casino Partners With William Hill
As sports betting is legalized state by state and becomes more popular around the country, more and more casinos are looking for partnerships with companies who know about the business. The latest such relationship comes in Iowa where the Prairie Meadows Casino and Hotel has signed a partnership agreement with the United States arm of British bookmaking agent William Hill to run the Altoona, Iowa, casino’s sports book. It is still contingent upon Iowa legalizing sports wagering but the fact that they’re already working on partnerships shows that they believe it will be legalized.
So far, eight U.S. states have full-scale legalized sports betting. Bills legalizing sports betting within limits and constraints have been passed in three other states, but those bills are attached to pending action in the near future. Four other states have bills pre-filed for this year’s legislative sessions, and in Iowa, legislators are mobilizing to put the legalization of sports betting up for a vote.