Wynn Resorts has had a tough year. The company has been subjected to reviews in both Nevada and Massachusetts due to sexual misconduct allegations of the former founder Steve Wynn which resulted in heavy fines. The company has been working on opening a new casino near Boston and have come close to losing their gaming license due to the allegations. Now that they have been approved by the regulators of Massachusetts, the company may choose to delay the opening of their new Encore Casino to ensure a quality debut.
Major Fines
A record-setting fine of $35.5 million was issued against the company by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission for failure to detect and take care of sexual misconduct actions by Steve Wynn. Mr. Wynn is no longer associated with the company and Wynn Resorts is working hard to set themselves apart from the allegations.
The Encore Boston Harbor venue has been in the works for several years now, with a projected opening date of June 23rd. The facility cost $2.6 billion to create and could have been lost if the Gaming Commission in Massachusetts decided to remove the company’s gaming license. However, they decided to enact the super large fine and allow the company to move forward.
It took some time for the ruling to be made by the Gaming Commission. The results were eventually published from the investigation and an adjudicatory hearing hosted before the future of the company was revealed last month. The main issue at hand was the failure of Wynn Resorts to notify the regulator of the allegations and how they were addressed. Those formerly in charge basically looked the other way as Steve Wynn alleged conducted himself in an improper manner with employees of the company.
The record-setting fine was issued in a way to show how serious the regulator is when it comes to such issues. The operator has until the end of May to pay the fine. The new CEO of Wynn Resorts Matt Maddox must pay a separate fine of $500,000.
Delayed Opening
With so much invested in the new Encore Boston property, the luxury resort’s opening may be delayed. The property includes a hotel, casino, dining, meeting and convention space, may not open next month as expected.
During a recent earnings call, Mr. Maddox stated that it may be a week or two later when the facility is open to the public. The goal is to ensure the property is flawless when opening. This would be a smart move since Wynn Resorts has seen so much negative publicity. Opening without issue would help to provide some positive press.
It will be interesting to see in the coming weeks if the venue is able to open as expected on June 23rd or of the facility will be delayed until July or even further in the hopes of opening without any issues. According to Mr. Maddox, the property looks great.
