wbjournal.com | August 6, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 3
Editor, Brad Kane,
bkane@wbjournal.com
News Editor, Grant Welker,
gwelker@wbjournal.com (Real estate,
higher education)
Staff Writers
Zachary Comeau,
zcomeau@wbjournal.com
(Manufacturing)
Emily Micucci,
emicucci@wbjournal.com (Health care)
Contributors
Susan Shalhoub
Livia Gershon
Research Director,
Stephanie Meagher,
smeagher@nebusinessmedia.com
Research Assistant, Heide Martin,
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Production Director, Kira Beaudoin,
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Associate Art Director,
Mitchell Hayes,
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Senior Accounts Manager
Matt Majikas,
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Senior Accounts Manager
Christine Juetten,
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Senior Special Accounts Manager
Mary Lynn Bosiak,
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Marketing & Events Manager
Kris Prosser, kprosser@wbjournal.com
Events & Marketing Intern
Megan Irish, events@wbjournal.com
Distribution and Database Coordinator
A Guide to STUFF, a publication
of New England Business Media
Patty Harris,
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COO, Mary Rogers,
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Accounting Manager, Valerie Clark,
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Collections Manager, Raki Zwiebel,
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Human Resources, Jill Coran,
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Publisher, CEO, Peter Stanton
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Associate Publisher, Mark Murray
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President, Joseph Zwiebel
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Worcester Business Journal (ISSN#1063-6595) is
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WBJ
H
eading into press day last
week, News Editor Grant
Welker read over this
edition's editorial, "Central
Mass. is better off without
a casino" on page 21 in the Opinion sec-
tion and decided to play devil's advocate.
e editorial, which I write with Pub-
lisher Peter Stanton for every issue, argues
by not having a casino like the $960-mil-
lion MGM Springfield resort, Central
Massachusetts avoids the seediness
accompanying large gambling establish-
ments while not losing out on its own
cultural development, as the state's casinos
are legally prohibited from competing
with places like Worcester's Hanover
eatre.
Welker, though, pointed out the edito-
rial uses the likelihood the Pawtucket Red
Sox will move to Worcester as evidence
the region's cultural star is rising. en
he asked, what is better: a $960-million
resort casino contributing $26 million
in annual municipal taxes as MGM is in
Springfield, or a minor league baseball
team playing in a stadium using tens of
millions of dollars in public funds?
Back in December, Welker wrote a
story looking at the value of publicly
funded stadiums and found most govern-
ment officials overinflate their worth. A
minor league ballpark's economic impact
is roughly akin to that of a shopping
mall, so the maximum amount of public
funds used on such an endeavor should
be between $5 million to $10 million.
Even though city officials have remained
tight-lipped, by all accounts Worcester's
tentative deal with the PawSox is better
than the $38 million in public funding
Rhode Island has offered the team.
So, would I rather have a privately
funded casino or a publicly funded stadi-
um? My answer is neither.
Central Massachusetts is better off
without a resort casino. Having covered
the two Connecticut casinos from my
time at the Hartford Business Journal, I
know the surrounding communities aren't
improved by the existence of a gambling
resort. But Worcester doesn't need to
pony up $50 million either to bring in
a minor league baseball team. e city
A private casino or a publicly funded stadium?
I N T H I S I S S U E
should understand the value it brings as a
sports market and negotiate from a place
of strength, not compete public dollar for
public dollar against Rhode Island. Central
Mass. has positive momentum all on its
own.
- Brad Kane, editor
W
NEWS & ANALYSIS
DEPARTMENTS
4 Central Mass. In Brief
5 Flash Poll
12 Focus on Hospitality & toursim
16 The List: Top tourist attractions
17 The List: Hotels
18 Know How
19 Movers & Shakers
20 Photo Finish
21 Opinion
22 Shop Talk: Emily Rosenbaum,
Worcester JCC
10 Cutting the cord
After slashing its workforce, SeaChange
hopes to rebound through streaming
services like Netflix.
21 Tariffs hurting New England
Viewpoint columnist James T. Brett
says the Trump Administration's trade war
with Canada and Mexico is causing
Massachusetts businesses to suffer.
CORRECTION: A Power 50 article about Jill Dagilis in the
July 9 edition incorrectly implied Dagilis was a member
of the Worcester Redevelopment Authority board. She did
not serve on the formal board but on its citizens advisory
committee.
