Springfield Sues MGM, and MGM Says the City Is Blocking a Sale of the Casino

The City of Springfield has taken MGM Resorts to Hampden Superior Court over alleged breaches of the 2013 host community agreement, from employment levels to a downtown building left behind scaffolding for seven years. MGM calls the suit frivolous and says the real story is a proposed sale to a "well-qualified casino operator" that the mayor's office has stalled since early 2024.

• Springfield's lawsuit, filed on Thursday, names MGM Resorts International and its Blue Tarp Redevelopment subsidiary and alleges failures on employment, gaming-floor size and the redevelopment of 101 State Street, according to Casino.org
• The city says MGM has not maintained at least 3,000 employees or the agreed 2,800 to 3,000 slot and video machines and 75 to 100 table games
• MGM says it told Mayor Domenic Sarno's administration in early 2024 that it had a buyer, provided the buyer's plans, and agreed to convert 101 State Street into a hotel at the city's request, only for the city to "delay and obstruct"
• MGM and Blue Tarp want the dispute sent to private arbitration; the city says the issues fall outside the agreement's "narrow arbitration clauses"
• MGM Springfield opened in August 2018 at a cost of about $960 million

Two Years of Talks End in a Complaint and a Counter-Accusation

The City of Springfield, Massachusetts, has sued MGM Resorts International over alleged breaches of the host community agreement that brought MGM Springfield to the city, Casino.org reported on Friday. The complaint, filed on Thursday in Hampden Superior Court, alleges that MGM and its Blue Tarp Redevelopment subsidiary have failed to meet commitments on employment, the size of the casino's gaming floor and the redevelopment of a prominent downtown property.

Mayor Domenic Sarno said his administration had spent nearly two years negotiating with MGM over non-compliance with the 2013 agreement without reaching a settlement. Among the alleged breaches, the city says MGM has not maintained at least 3,000 employees, nor the agreed complement of 2,800 to 3,000 slot and video gaming machines and 75 to 100 table games. It also says 101 State Street, a building adjacent to the casino that MGM undertook to refurbish, has instead stood behind scaffolding and Jersey barriers for seven years. City Solicitor Stephen Buoniconti said the suit was necessary to enforce the agreement after extended discussions failed.

MGM's response reframed the dispute. It called the litigation "frivolous" and the latest attempt by the mayor's administration to delay approval of a proposed sale. The company said it notified Sarno and other city representatives in early 2024 of the transaction, subsequently provided information about a prospective buyer it described as a "well-qualified casino operator", and gave assurances that the host community agreement would be honoured after a transfer. It said the buyer agreed to convert 101 State Street into a hotel after city officials expressed a preference for that option, "despite this being the most expensive option discussed", and that the mayor and the city "continued to avoid moving the discussion forward". MGM accused the city of attempting to "delay and obstruct" the sale.

The Sale Has Been an Open Secret Since 2024

Reports that MGM was exploring a sale of the Springfield property first emerged in March 2024, and Sarno met MGM chief executive Bill Hornbuckle the following month, when the city described a sale as "an ongoing process" and said any new operator would be expected to honour the agreement. MGM's statement this week is the first confirmation that a buyer was identified and its plans presented to the city.

The two sides also disagree on the forum. MGM and Blue Tarp have sought to move the dispute into private arbitration, while the city argues the issues fall outside the agreement's "narrow arbitration clauses" and should be decided by a court. MGM Springfield opened in August 2018 at a cost of approximately $960 million, and is one of three casinos licensed by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, whose regulatory profile is on the iGaming Times country page. The state's other resort casino, Encore Boston Harbor, saw 1,300 workers walk out on Friday in a separate dispute.

Host Community Agreements Were Written for a Market That No Longer Exists

The 2013 agreement promised Springfield a $960 million resort, 3,000 jobs and a rebuilt downtown, at a moment when Massachusetts casino licences were the most sought-after in the country. MGM Springfield has never reached the revenue its projections assumed, and a commitment to 3,000 employees written before the pandemic and before online betting is the kind of clause a city enforces when it has lost patience rather than when it expects the number. The suit is a negotiating position as much as a claim, and the city has said as much by describing two years of talks.

A Buyer Who Inherits the Agreement Is Either the Solution or the Problem

MGM says the buyer will honour the host community agreement. The city's suit says MGM itself has not, which raises the question of what a new owner would be inheriting: the agreement as written, or the agreement as MGM has performed it. Springfield may be using the litigation to fix the terms before any transfer, and MGM may be using the sale to escape them. Both readings are consistent with what each side has said.

Arbitration Versus Court Is the Fight That Decides the Others

If the dispute goes to arbitration, it is resolved privately and quickly and the sale can proceed on terms nobody outside the room sees. If it stays in Hampden Superior Court, every alleged breach becomes a public record that the Gaming Commission, which must approve any transfer of the licence, will read. That is why MGM wants arbitration and why the city wants a judge.

MGM wants out of Springfield and Springfield wants what it was promised in 2013. The court will decide whether those two things can be traded for each other.