Casinos: Players at the Table
Eleven developers submitted the application — along with the the $400,000 fee — to vie for a permit to open a casino or slots parlor in Massachusetts before the Jan. 15 deadline.
Now that the applications are in, background investigations of the applicants will start immediately and could take as long as six months, according to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.
The MGC expects the slots parlor license to be awarded by the end of this year, while the first full resort-casino license will be awarded by Feb. 26, 2014.
Roll over the chips on the map below to see who's planning what, and were. Additional details follow below the map.
Suffolk Downs
Region A: East Boston
Suffolk Downs has partnered with Boston businessman and philanthropist Joe O'Donnell and Caesars Entertainment to open a casino and resort at the 78-year-old East Boston racetrack.
Suffolk Downs is widely thought to have the inside track, pun intended, on a winning bid, since it's the preferred Boston-area casino location of Mayor Thomas Menino.
Caesars Entertainment says the $1 billion Suffolk Downs proposal would create 4,000 full-time jobs and 2,500 part-time jobs.
Project Website: The Friends of Suffolk Downs
Wynn Resorts
Region A: Everett
Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn had planned to team up with New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft to build a casino and resort adjacent to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.
The high-powered duo ditched the plans after Foxboro residents voted against it, but now Wynn is back, pitching a casino and resort on a 37-acre site on the Mystic River in Everett.
Menino drew attention when he said Wynn Resorts' application would have to go through him, since he "owned" part of the Everett site that straddles the Boston border.
Crossroads Resort
Region A: Milford
Colorado developer David Nunes is partnering with Warner Gaming to build a $700 million casino off Route 495 in Milford.
The project is expected to include a 300,000 square foot casino, a 300-room hotel, restaurants and shops.
Nunes has said the casino would create 3,000 jobs and could grow over time to include 5,000 slot machines, thousands of hotel rooms and as many as 13 separate restaurants.
Project Website: Crossroads Resort
Plainridge Racecourse
Region A: Plainville
Plainridge Racecourse is one of two businesses hoping to win the state's only slots parlor permit.
Plainridge has said it plans to build a parlor with more than 1,200 slot machines.
Project Website: Plainridge Racecourse
MGM International
Region B: Springfield
One of three casino and resort developments proposed for Springfield, MGM International plans to build a 12-acre casino and resort on three city blocks in the city's South End.
The project would include a 25-floor, 250-room hotel, 165,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, as well as a movie theater and a bowling alley.
The project is expected to cost about $800 million, and should create 2,000 construction jobs and "thousands more" permanent ones, according to MGM.
Project Website: MGM Springfield
Hard Rock Hotels & Casinos
Region B: West Springfield
Another of three proposed casinos for Springfield, the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino chain's proposed casino, to be called Hard Rock Hotel & Casino New England, would occupy a 38-acre parcel on the site of the Big E state fair in West Springfield, which is owned by Eastern States Exposition.
The proposed resort would feature a 400 to 500-room hotel with a spa and indoor pool deck, a 200,000-square foot casino with 100 to 125 tables and 2,500 to 3,000 slot machines. It would also contain a Hard Rock Café restaurant and a live music venue.
The development group launched the proposed project Jan. 11 with a press event featuring a performance by ex-Poison singer Brett Michaels.
Project Website: Hard Rock Hotel & Casino New England
Hollywood Casino
Region B: Springfield
Penn National is proposing a casino in the North End of Springfield's downtown, including 2,800 slot machines, 80 table games, 20 poker tables, 258 hotel rooms, and several restaurants, including [Doug] Flutie's Sports Pub.
The resort casino is expected to cost about $800 million, and Penn National's application estimates the project would create 2,100 construction jobs and 2,400 casino jobs.
The project would require the relocation of The Republican newspaper and the Peter Pan bus station.
Mohegan Sun
Region B: Palmer
Connecticut casino Mohegan Sun is partnering with New York-based Brigade Capital Management on its bid to build a casino resort on a 150-acre site in the Western Massachusetts town of Palmer.
Mohegan Sun, which has had a storefront in downtown Palmer for three years, said the project would create 1,000 union construction jobs.
To bolster its argument for the permit, Mohegan said its Connecticut operation spends $500 million a year on goods and services from Connecticut businesses.
Project Website: Mohegan Sun Palmer
Raynham Park
Region C: Raynham
Raynham Park, a simulcast racing betting operation, wants to add slot machines to its offerings.
Project Website: Raynham Park
Rush Street Gaming, The Cordish Co.
Region and Location undecided
Both Rush Street and Cordish made last-minute submissions, and have yet to release details on what kind of casinos they would build, in what city or in what region.
Project Websites: Rush Street Gaming, The Cordish Co.