First Tribal Casino in Massachusetts Inching Its Way Forward

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has announced that plans for its long-awaited casino will be shared with the public in 2025 after nearly a dozen years since it reached a gaming compact agreement with the Commonwealth.

Let’s take a closer look at the project and how it might impact top-rated sportsbooks in the region.

Baby Steps

It’s been a long, winding road for the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, whose members number less than 4000 people, to get a gaming facility off the ground. The Mashpee, Massachusetts tribe negotiated a gaming compact with the state in March 2013, but approval by the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs wasn’t signed until January 2014.

The compact still has plenty of time left, as it states the deadline is “midnight on the twentieth (20th) year anniversary of the date the Facility is opened,” which would be March 2033. However, a series of starts and stops has beleaguered the project, but city and tribal leaders will scrutinize the plan and present it to the public “in early 2025.”

First Light, First Step

The Mashpee Wampanoags are moving forward with the first phase of the First Light Resort and Casino, which will be a welcome center on its 321-acre site located in East Taunton, Massachusetts.

“Our new welcome center will be a place to learn about our history, connect with our culture, and see what’s next for our reservation lands,” the spokesperson, Steven Peters, said in a written statement. “At this center, all are welcome to preview the benefits of project First Light and see what tribal stewardship of our land looks like,” he added.

However, the Welcome Center was news to city authorities, as indicated by this statement from the mayor’s office. “This weekend, the Tribe informed us that they intend to open a Welcome Center and will be issuing a statement to that effect. We have requested that the Tribe provide an update to the City Council and the community immediately.”

Cleaning Up

The site has been littered with illegal dumping over the years, and the property has become an eyesore that the city is happy to see remedied. The tribe has also agreed to pay property taxes on the land even though they are a sovereign nation.

“The City of Taunton has been working with the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe over many months to ensure the land in East Taunton is properly maintained and secured,” Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell said. “The Tribe has been responsive to our requests to address the illegal dumping, loose fence posts, and other blight on site,” O’Connell added.

“We are thrilled to have started a project to beautify our reservation lands in Taunton,” Peters said. “The clean-up and landscaping project will improve the overall safety conditions in the area and remove years of illegal dumping.”

Although the welcome center is slated to be on the fast track, a partnership with a gaming company to run the casino is still unresolved. Genting Americas was initially chosen to assist in the development and operation of the casino, but that partnership terminated in 2021, and a replacement operator has yet to be found.