Massachusetts Tribe Enters Casino Revenue-Sharing Agreement With City of Taunton

Posted on: April 7, 2025, 11:40h. 

Last updated on: April 7, 2025, 11:55h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • The Mashpee Wampanoag have agreed to share gaming revenue with the City of Taunton
  • The tribe continues to seek financing for a permanent tribal casino
  • In the meantime, the Mashpees are operating 50 slot-like gaming machines in a Welcome Center

A tribe in Massachusetts has reached a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the City of Taunton regarding how casino gaming might benefit both sides of the contract.

Massachusetts Mashpee Wampanoag casino
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, along with local officials, celebrate the opening of its Welcome Center in Taunton on Jan. 26, 2025. The federally recognized tribe has agreed to share some of the Welcome Center’s gaming revenue with the city. (Image: Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe)

The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, one of two federally recognized tribes in Massachusetts, opened a Class II gaming facility in January with 10 slot-like electronic bingo machines. The tribe has since added 40 gaming positions to bring the total number of terminals to 50.

The games are housed in the tribe’s newly opened Welcome Center, which additionally includes educational materials on the Mashpee’s past, and its future plans to bring a tribal casino to the southeastern part of the commonwealth.

The MOA signed by Taunton Mayor Shaunna O’Connell and Mashpee Wampanoag Chair Brian Weeden dictates that 2.05% of the money retained by the Welcome Center gaming machines be allocated to the city. In exchange, the City of Taunton will delay taking legal action on the tribe’s overdue payments in lieu of taxes that currently amount to $2,355,556.53.

First Light’s Second Try 

In 2012, the Mashpee Wampanoags purchased 321 acres of land in Taunton. The tribe partnered with Malaysia gaming conglomerate Genting on a more than $1 billion casino resort plan called First Light.

The project endured years of legal setbacks as the United States Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) labored to determine if the tribe’s land qualified to be taken into the federal trust to be deemed sovereign. As dictated by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), federally recognized tribes can only operate Class I and II gaming on sovereign lands.

The DOI’s BIA had differing opinions on the Taunton land under the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations. The years-long dispute resulted in Genting exiting the project, but the Mashpees ultimately had their land deemed sovereign in February 2023.

The Mashpees disclosed in the MOA that the tribe “intends to pursue and secure financing” for a new casino during the first half of 2025.

Once a permanent casino opens — not a temporary facility as the Welcome Center is designated in the MOA — the tribe will guarantee a minimum annual payment of $8 million to the City of Taunton. The MOA additionally requires that the financing entity that signs on for the Mashpee casino development pay the tribe’s outstanding property tax liability.

Scaled-Back Plan 

The Mashpee Wampanoag’s website on its gaming ambitions currently shows a rendering for a considerably smaller casino than the one planned with Genting. The latest vision seemingly suggests there will be no hotel and will instead be a boutique tribal casino with live entertainment.

As part of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s vision for economic growth and community development, we’re preparing to launch First Light Casino, a full-scale Class III gaming resort that will bring Vegas-style thrills to East Taunton. First Light Casino will introduce cutting-edge slot machines, live blackjack, poker, and roulette, high-stakes table games, gourmet dining, vibrant nightlife, and world-class entertainment and events,” the website reads.

The Welcome Center’s bingo gaming machines are open for play Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.