Massachusetts Weighs Historical Horse Racing Machines at Former Dog Track as Tribal Casino Calls Them an Existential Threat

Massachusetts lawmakers are weighing a plan that would bring slot-machine-style gaming back to a shuttered greyhound track in Raynham, and the state’s only tribal casino operator says the move threatens its very existence. Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Chairman Brian Weeden warned in a letter that allowing historical horse racing (HHR) terminals at the former Raynham Park would pose “an existential threat” to the tribe, which runs the First Light Casino in nearby Taunton.

The proposal is tucked into a broader $561 million economic development bill that cleared the Massachusetts House in early July and is now before the Senate, where its future is far less certain. If enacted, the legislation would legalize HHR machines at the state’s remaining racetrack properties, with the biggest beneficiaries being Suffolk Downs in East Boston and the long-dormant Raynham Park in southeastern Massachusetts.

What Exactly Are Historical Horse Racing Machines?

HHR terminals look and play like traditional slot machines, complete with spinning reels and flashing lights, but the outcomes are generated from the results of previously run horse races rather than a random number generator. The races themselves are anonymized, and bettors technically wager into pari-mutuel pools against each other rather than against the house. That structural quirk is what allows supporters to classify the machines as an extension of horse racing rather than casino-style slots, sidestepping the stricter regulatory framework that governs Massachusetts’ licensed casinos.

Weeden and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe reject that distinction entirely. In his letter, Weeden said the machines “look like slot machines, sound like slot machines, and are played exactly like slot machines” regardless of the technical mechanism behind them. The tribe has argued publicly that legalizing HHR terminals would expand gambling in Massachusetts outside the framework established by the Tribal-State Compact and the state’s Expanded Gaming Act — a process the tribe says amounts to a backroom deal that disregards its sovereign standing.

Who Stands to Gain — and Who’s Fighting It

The push is being driven by developer Richard Fields, who has spent years trying to revive Suffolk Downs and has reached an agreement to acquire the 16-acre Raynham site from its current owners if the legislation passes and the Massachusetts Gaming Commission signs off. A report commissioned by Fields from Spectrum Gaming Group estimates roughly $225 million in combined capital investment to build out HHR venues at the two former tracks, with backers projecting hundreds of millions in tax revenue over the following years earmarked for the state’s safety-net hospitals.

Neither Raynham Park nor Fields’ camp has downplayed the opposition, which extends well beyond the Mashpee Wampanoag. Massachusetts’ three commercial casino operators — Encore Boston Harbor, MGM Springfield, and Plainridge Park — jointly urged House leaders to reject the measure before it passed, arguing the terminals function as slot machines in every meaningful way without being subject to the same licensing costs or oversight that casinos must shoulder. Those operators, along with critics in the state legislature, have described the arrangement as a near-monopoly carved out for a single developer rather than a genuine racing revival.

HHR machines aren’t new to the broader gaming industry — they’re already operating in several states, including neighboring New Hampshire, where jurisdictions without traditional casino slots have used the format to introduce gaming at existing racing facilities. Whether Massachusetts follows that path now rests with the state Senate, which has not yet scheduled a vote on the bill. For bettors and industry watchers keeping an eye on how Massachusetts sportsbooks and the state’s broader gambling market continue to evolve, the outcome could reshape the competitive landscape for years to come, particularly for the tribal casino sitting just down the road from Raynham.