First Light Casino in Massachusetts Announces Alcohol Start Date
Posted on: September 26, 2025, 12:11h.
Last updated on: September 26, 2025, 12:55h.
- Alcohol is coming to First Light Casino
- The Massachusetts casino is a tribal facility without slots or table games
- The casino only offers electronic bingo terminals
First Light Casino in Massachusetts will soon begin alcohol service.
The tribal casino in East Taunton, owned and operated by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, one of two federally recognized tribes in Massachusetts, has gained federal and state approval to sell and dispense alcoholic beverages at its gaming facility at 1 O’Connell Way. Effective October 14, the tribal casino that houses 250 slot-like electronic gaming machines will be free to serve beer and wine, plus liquor.
The Federal Register, the official journal of the United States government, was recently updated to include the federal approval of alcohol being served on the tribal land owned by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe. The federal ordinance is needed, along with the state’s blessing, for the tribe to serve alcoholic beverages.
Officially, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Liquor Ordinance, the license allows for the sale, purchase, transportation, manufacture, consumption, and possession of alcoholic beverages on trust lands of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.
In 2021, the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs placed 321 acres of land in Mashpee and East Taunton that the tribe acquired in 2012 into the federal trust. The tribe’s approximately 170 acres in East Taunton is where the tribe is running its temporary tribal casino and hopes to one day operate a casino resort like Mohegan Sun or Foxwoods, with traditional slot machines and live dealer table games.
Tax-Free Alcohol
Being a sovereign nation with federal recognition, the tribe is free of all federal and state taxes, including consumption and sales taxes.
Nothing contained in this Ordinance is intended to, nor does it in any way, limit or restrict the Tribe’s ability to impose tax upon the sale or consumption of liquor. The Tribe retains the right to impose such taxes to the fullest extent permitted by Federal law,” the Federal Register reads.
First Light Casino currently operates daily from 10 am until 2 am. While the Mashpee Wampanoag are exempt from taxes, they must comply with their host state laws regarding booze, such as hours and the minimum drinking age.
In Massachusetts, only people aged 21 and older are allowed to drink alcohol. The state limits on-site consumption at restaurants and bars to 8 am until 2 am Monday through Saturday, and from 10 am until 2 am on Sunday. In 2018, MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor successfully petitioned the state to allow for alcohol to be served for another two hours, until 4 am, at the two casinos.
First Light revealed in its state liquor license application that it would offer alcohol from 11 am Monday through Saturday, and from noon on Sunday. Cutoff times are set for 9:30 pm Sun-Thurs, and to 11:30 pm Fri-Sat.
Future Casino Remains on Hold
In recent weeks, the Mashpee Wampanoag quietly rebranded its tribal casino. The First Light Casino Welcome Center recently ditched the “welcome center” part, and tribal officials are no longer labeling the modular facility as a temporary facility but simply a casino.
That could hint that the tribe’s long struggles to secure financing to build a larger, permanent brick-and-mortar casino and resort aren’t expected to resolve anytime soon. Along with construction costs, it would presumably be a costly lobbying fight for the tribe to convince state lawmakers and Gov. Maura Healey (D) to enter into a Class III gaming compact, which is needed for slots and live-dealer table games. Without a Class III agreement, the odds of the tribe finding a lender for a project of more than $100 million are likely long.
The First Light Casino, being a Class I and II tribal casino, as dictated by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, can only offer electronic bingo-based games.
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