Share
The first and likely only tribal casino within Massachusetts’ borders appears to be finally moving ahead after multiple delays spanning nearly a decade. A representative of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has shared that plans for the gaming facility will be shared with the public “in early 2025.”
The planning for the enterprise, dubbed First Light Resort and Casino, will involve city leaders in Taunton, Massachusetts and involve phases of development. The Mashpee Wampanoag are already moving forward with a non-gaming project on the land the casino will occupy.
Mashpee Wampanoag share update on casino development
The Taunton Gazette reported on Monday that leaders in the city and from the Mashpee Wampanoag will soon join to pour over plans for development of the 321-acre site that the Tribe owns. Those plans should become available for public scrutiny in the near future.
Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council Chair Brian Weeden stated in the article:
Over the coming months, we are thrilled to announce we will be working with the city to develop our phased plan for the future First Light Resort and Casino. We are working toward presenting these plans to the public in early 2025.
The Mashpee Wampanoag have already announced that they will construct a welcome center on the site. According to Emma Rindlisbacher of the Taunton Gazette, that work currently involves clearing the site of what Taunton mayor Shaunna O’Connell called “illegal dumping, loose fence posts, and other blight.”
Although the Mashpee Wampanoag have been working on First Light Resort and Casino since it acquired the land in 2015, there is still no timeline for when the facility may open. That could be part of the forthcoming public updates in early 2025.
If the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe does move forward with casino development in 2025, it will represent the culmination of years of legal wrangling to get to that point.
Almost everything looks good to go
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe broke ground on the casino in 2016 but multiple lawsuits stymied construction shortly thereafter. The last of those found a favorable resolution for the casino project in February 2023 as other matters have likewise been handled.
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe formed a gaming compact with Massachusetts in March 2013. The US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the compact in January 2014.
That compact lists “midnight on the twentieth (20th) year anniversary of the date the Facility is opened” as the expiration of the compact. Therefore, no renegotiation of the compact is necessary at this time despite the fact that nearly 12 years have passed since the compact’s agreement.
Although the casino site is sovereign territory controlled by the Mashpee Wampanoag, the Tribe has agreed to compensate Taunton for the loss of property tax payments. Due to delays in the project, however, the Mashpee Wampanoag have already fallen behind on that commitment.
The only component that seems unsettled is one of the most crucial to the site’s development; an operational partner for the casino itself. A lack of such a partnership could cause new delays.
Help wanted for First Light Resort and Casino
Originally, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe had contracted with Genting Americas to help develop and then operate First Light. Genting exited the relationship in 2021, however, and the Tribe has yet to name a replacement.
Whether the Tribe has the resources to build and run the casino on its own is unclear but seems doubtful given that its enrollment is under 4,000 people. Without a partner similar to Genting, construction could see delays and the balance of payments owed to Taunton could build further.
A new partnership could be part of the early 2025 announcements. If that proves to be the case, that would signal that development of the casino should proceed with haste.
At the very least, the number of possible further obstacles for First Light Casino is small. Confidence from Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal leaders seems to be at an all-time high.
