Editorial: Gaming for Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe

Thursday, May 31, 2007  

"The Mashpee Wampanoags, recently recognized by the federal government as a legitimate Native American tribe, plan to build a gambling operation, most likely on 350 acres of land it purchased in Middleborough. Because of its new tribal status, the Wampanoag land will be, in effect, sovereign territory with a relationship that is not unlike that which Monaco enjoys with its neighbor France. As such, profits from Wampanoag gambling will not be subject to state taxes, but the tribe will be restricted to forms of gaming already sanctioned by state law. By today’s standards, that means Wampanoag-sponsored gambling would be a nickel-and-dime operation compared with Connecticut-Indian casinos Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun.

The reasonable fear is that even without state-approved expansion of permissible games, Wampanoag gambling will drain life from the state lottery without any of the compensatory tourism advantages that high-class casinos bring. The tribe, of course, recognizes its leverage and hopes to strike a deal similar to that in Connecticut, where the state receives 25 percent of all slot-machine revenue. Last year, it received $427 million from the two casinos. A sizable chunk of that money came from Massachusetts residents who spent an estimated $1.1 billion gambling in our neighboring state.

When all is said and done, the equation is not complicated: how much money would Massachusetts gain if a private developer went into the casino business with all the fees and sales, meals, lodging, and gambling taxes collected? And how much money would we collect if we were to negotiate with the Wampanoags for an expanded form of gaming in exchange for a cut of tribal action? The federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, which regulates tribal matters, has capped Connecticut’s take at 25 percent. Some private casinos pay their state governments almost 50 percent.

It is clear that Massachusetts is going to have an expanded gambling sector in the future, whether it likes it or not. "

Get the Story:
Editorial: Casino gambling: Yes (The Boston Phoenix 5/31)