 Please yell if you are paying attention. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Blue Man Group. Blue Man Group, Blue Man Group, Blue Man Group, Blue Man Group, Blue Man Group, Blue Man Group, Blue Man Group, Blue Man Group, Blue Man Group. Welcome everyone. Welcome, welcome. Thank you for being here. We are so glad this day has finally arrived. And we are honored you are here to share this incredible moment with us. Our opening is the culmination of years of dedication by many people. Sorry, no one introduced me. Is that presumptuous? Do you all know who I am? I'm sort of a big deal. I'm Michael Mathis. I humbly serve as president and CO of MGM Springfield. Thank you for being here. Our opening is the culmination of years of dedication by many people. It is the result of literally millions of hours of inspired work by designers, engineers, and skilled tradesmen and women. Emphasis on women. Our trade women were awesome. All right? Yeah. Their work is now elevated by the enthusiastic hospitality offered by at the hands of 3,000 MGM Springfield employees who now breathe life into this incredible building. It has always been our goal to honor, reflect, and inspire the spirit of Springfield. How do you guys think we did? But first things first, allow me to take a moment to introduce our distinguished friends on our stage. Starting on my far right, and please hold your applause till the end. Springfield City Councilor Orlando Ramos. No one ever listens to that. It's fine. I've never seen that complied with. Massachusetts State Representative Carlos Gonzalez. Representative Brian Ash. Representative Jose Tisato. State Senator James Welch. Representative Joseph Wagner. Representative Bud Williams. I'm starting on this side. Thank you. Representative Michael Finn. City Councilor Michael Fenton. City Councilor Adam Gomez. Now coming back across the front row, our partner, Paul Pignelli. That one you can applaud. Yeah. What a great, great partner. Our good friend, Ethel Griffin. Yeah. Massachusetts State Gaming Chair Stephen Crosby. And sorry, Mayor Morris, I got to drop this. The best mayor in Springfield, in the United States. Tom Nixarno. And now with our front row to the right, Governor Charlie Baker. The most important person on the stage by far, our chairman and CEO, Jim Merwin. U.S. Congressman Neal. And last, but certainly not least, Lieutenant Governor Karen Polito. Thank you. I would also like to acknowledge the members of the MGM Resorts International Board of Directors who join us for the debut of our company's newest resort destination. Thank you all. Thank you all for being here. While we are acknowledging people, this feels like the right time to take a moment to say thank you to a few folks who provided inspiration for our original motto, MGM Springfield, stronger together. As I name these folks, I'd like you to please stand and remain standing. These are the people without whom this day would never have come. So I would like to ask a few folks to stand. Please, again, hold your applause until the end. If you are one of the Massachusetts elected officials or city of Springfield employees who saw the benefits of this amazing economic development opportunity, please stand. Please stay standing until I'm concluded. Yes, thank you. If you are one of our very special, hardworking workforce development partners, please also stand. Stay standing, please. If you are one of our incredibly rugged, never say die, we're on a mission for MGM Springfield campaign team members, volunteers, you all know who you are, please stand. Please stand if you are with labor or construction or design because none of this would have happened without you, like those folks to stand as well. And we can't forget our vendors. Please stand if you are one of the growing list of vendors who provide us with all the things we need to pamper our guests. I also want to acknowledge my colleagues from Las Vegas and our regional properties who helped us stand up this operation. They sent us 400 task force members without which we couldn't have done what we did. If anybody's from MGM resorts, please stand. And last but certainly not least, please stand if you are among the endless list of amazing community members and partners who are with us all the way. Fantastic. We at MGM thank you from the bottom of our hearts. And I just want to call out, if you're still sitting, there's a good chance you're a plant from Fox, whether it's from where he can sign. Because that really, that should have been the list. That should have been the list. I want to bring up our first speaker. I refer to our first speaker as the best mayor in America and I really mean that. If there were a Mr. Spirit of Springfield contest, this man would be wearing a crown. He truly loves Springfield. He puts his heart and soul into this city and he's a great supporter of this project. He began by fighting hard for Springfield and once he negotiated an incredible deal, he became our biggest advocate. In 2011, the land we stand on was ravaged by a tornado, torn to pieces by the forces of Mother Nature. But Mother Nature didn't know who she was up against in Springfield. Today we dedicate this new luxury resort to the hard work and resilience of the people of Springfield, led by one man who deserves a great deal of credit for what has been accomplished here. Sometimes something I think could be considered the biggest civic achievement in the nation. Please welcome Springfield's number one citizen and my good friend, the mayor of the city of Springfield, the honorable Don Nix honor. Good morning, everyone. To Governor Baker, Lieutenant Governor Polito, Congressman Neil, to Jim Muran, Bill Hormbuckle, Mike Mathis, all my friends and colleagues on stage and in the audience, you saw the video and it had a bad four letter word. I'm gonna tell you a good four letter word. Jobs, J-O-B-S. I run into people every day that have told me their family members or friends are so excited because they're now working for MGM and the outstanding reputation MGM has. And for any mayor in urban America, he or she, they will tell you that continue to knock down the vicious cycle of poverty and public safety issues. Three things are needed. One family, I'm familiar, which is sometimes difficult to get into. One A, education. One B, jobs, put our people to work and that's exactly what MGM has done. They're an outstanding, well-respected, worldwide corporation that might be corporate, but they really care about their people. You think about seven short years ago. This area in the city of Springfield, one third of it was devastated by an EF3 tornado that tore apart one third of the city. Yet the resiliency of the Springfield people kept us going 24-7. And MGM has been a major catalyst and I am deeply appreciative of the $1 billion investment, which is one-third of the $3.7 billion economic development projects going on here in the city of Springfield. It's a special moment not only for me, but for my whole team that put this together. And it's really been, as I said, an MGM being a catalyst many times in urban America, people will say, well, what do you expect? And for many years in Springfield, you heard, well, what the hell do you expect at Springfield? Now people are saying, why not Springfield? And MGM making this investment here has spurred a tremendous amount of economic development. So now is the time, they believed in us, we must continue to believe in ourselves. We must continue to be ambassadors and champions for the city of Springfield, to spread the good word, not only in downtown or our neighborhoods, of the good things that are happening here in the city of Springfield. And we are so proud and honored to have the well-respected, worldwide known MGM here in the city of Springfield. And they have met their goals. Do you realize that well over, well over a thousand Springfield residents are now employed here in the city of Springfield? They have spread their wealth to all our vendors, materials, supplies and businesses, whether buying from them or incorporating them here in MGM, they have invested their time and belief here in the city of Springfield. So for me, as I end to look back at seven years ago as we were in search and rescue and triage, to see from that rubble, to see from those ashes, a Phoenix has risen and that Phoenix is MGM. So come on to Springfield, the red carpet is rolled out, you're gonna have a clean, a safe and a fun time and we look forward to doing business with you for many, many more years to come. God bless you all and continue success to MGM. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Our next speaker is a dedicated and enthusiastic Springfield resident, engaged in many aspects of the community. Our team has personally worked with her throughout the years to help rebuild neighborhoods as part of the revitalized CDC organization. As such, she was very interested in MGM's intentions when we arrived in town. After looking us up and down, and I mean literally looking us up and down, we were happy to win her approval. As is her way for the many causes she believes in, she became an active supporter. Some of you may remember her from one of our earliest television commercials when our project was on the ballot five years ago. She spoke of her excitement at the thought of a finished MGM Springfield resort and how much she looked forward to bringing her grandchildren here to experience it. I'm happy to deliver the news that the day you wish for has arrived. And wherever you and your family are ready, I am eager to personally lead that tour. Ethel Griffin, please come to the stage. Good morning. Good morning. I told him I need a mic because I don't talk very much and I don't talk very loud. Now, none of my friends, don't you say anything? And I want to say good morning again. Come on, we can do better than that. This is Springfield and this is exciting. Good morning. Good morning. All right, that sounds so much better. It's a special day and time for us. And I'm so excited about this project. First, I can't introduce the audience. I mean, our panel has been introduced, but I'm so glad to see our governor, our representative Richard Neal. He and I used to play volleyball together, so I had to always mention him. Our mayor and also the president and chairman Jim Moran. I'm so happy to see him again. And most of all, I'm happy to see you here because this could not take place if you had not been able to come in and work together, come together, and let's join as one and get this project done. Mr. Chairman, you may not know that Mike, sometimes once a year he trade his three-piece suit or two-piece suit that he have on today and he put his blue jeans on and he helped revitalize CDC and the homeowners to stay in their home. You may see him painting the house, raking the yard. Throwing trash in the dumpster. You won't even know that's him, but he promised that he was gonna go out into the community and this is something that he has done, not just walk around with a suit on but out there actually helping the people. As I say, this is a special time for Springfield and people all over the state of Massachusetts and beyond. It's something that everyone can participate in. People can bring their children here, you can come, there's bowling, movie theater, fine dining, first class entertainment. I know most of you must have your tickets already. The hotel and yes, gambling. Three years ago, no, it was about five years ago, I participated in the groundbreaking ceremony for the MGM Casino and now have the pleasure and I call this a pleasure of participating in the press conference for the grand opening of this great venture. It has been exciting to watch the building go up from my offices right across from the building, jobs being created. When I visited the facility last Monday, I was very pleased and impressed to see all ages, the elderly, Miller age and young people from all over Western Mass in different areas working together. This is what was promised and MGM, they are living up to their promise. Let's live up to our responsibility to support MGM Springfield in a positive manner. They only gave me three minutes, so I think that's my three minutes about up. So I could stay here all day talking if you are willing to sit and listen, but I'll be respectful of my three minutes. So once again, I wanna thank MGM, I wanna thank all of you for supporting this project. This is a great private project and invite all your friends and everyone to come down. I feel real good when people who did not have a job come up to me and say, Ms. Griffin, you know, I now have a job and I'm fixing up my house. That's something you don't hear every day. So once again, thank you and thank all of you. So Ethel, speaking of young people, two nights ago, I met a young man who works in our conference services and he said, Mr. Mathis, I was in eighth grade when MGM came to town. And I'm now working in the building and I was like, oh my God, how old am I? So it's inspirational. We are honored to have our next speaker with us today. You know him as Springfield's former mayor and a current representative in Congress, but you may not know that this man, one of the area's most favored sons, is an accomplished historian. If not by vocation, by avocation, he carries a depth of knowledge of the region that he calls home. And one of my first engagements with him, he proudly represented the rich history that is the foundation of the spirit of Springfield. He asked Jim and I, we were together, to build our new traditions on the strong foundation of the deep historical traditions so important here in Springfield. One look at what we've built and you will know how seriously we took this man's advice to heart. Please welcome your U.S. Congressman, Richie Neal. Thanks, Mike, very much for those kind words of introduction and I wanna welcome Governor Baker here. I wanted to say this at the outset during the time that he has been in the corner office on the third floor at the State House. Every time I have called him with he or his staff, they've responded and it's been positive every single time. So I wanna thank you, Governor. And welcome from Central Massachusetts, which is the bulk of this congressional district and different intervals and iterations that I've had over the course of my career to have somebody from Central Massachusetts, our Lieutenant Governor, Karen Polito, here is the light as well. To our local legislators, first class legislative delegation, to our members of the city council and to those of you who share the former title that I have with a very small alumni association called Former Mayors, a good day for you as well. And I wanna single out Mayor Sarno for something that I think is really important today. In the many years that I've represented you in the House of Representatives or actually now almost 42 years straight of being elected here by pretty significant margins, there's something that we do. We scrutinize, we analyze and there's nothing like peer review. Peer review, whether you're a good teacher, you're a good attorney, good doctor. We all know who those are that really perform every day. And one of the things given the initiative and the controversy that is surrounded, I think three referendum questions over a considerable period of time was the following. I can't remember a time when there was an initiative that was proposed that received more scrutiny than this one did. It was under the analysis of I think criticism from day one. It time and again was put under the magnifying glass. The gaming commission took a strong position. But you know what? Through those seven years, it has met every standard that was anticipated and expected of it. And I think much of the credit goes to the conductor of the orchestra, our friend, Mayor Dominic Sarno. So if you're wondering what Jim Myrne and Mike Mathis and I talked about, those of you who know me and have worked with me over the years, it might not have been the most exciting conversation on some issues, but it was devoted to the following. Tasteful development, an understanding of the role that the history of the Valley has played in shaping the history of America. And one of the important moments in this conversation, and we never really once in all this time talked about gambling. Not once, I don't think when I've been in their company. But I knew this, that Jim Myrne had a background in landscape architecture and urban planning. So we talked about the importance of the history of this Valley. I encouraged him to his surprise. I said, Jim, Frederick Law Olmsted's papers are at the Springfield Armory Museum. Now I know that might not excite the masses, but who has had a more profound influence on urban architecture than Frederick Law Olmsted? And Jim Myrne was up there the next day to see those papers because one of the people I know at the museum said, this guy Myrne showed up and wanted to see the papers. And I thought that was extraordinary. Now, one of the other topics that I've had a lot of interest in over the course of my career, and I think it's been reflected in the projects that I've associated myself with is economics and the steady hand of economics and predictability. So why is this initiative so important? Well, first of all, to MGM, you hired all organized labor to do the project. Pretty, pretty good. So what does that mean? It means that in a $1 billion project that we're about to witness a $90 million annual payroll. So the spin off of that is the following. You're gonna see an uptick in housing, reinvested in, just not in new housing, but also rehabilitation. People are gonna spend more. There'll be more home equity loans that'll be taken. You're gonna see an uptick in retailing that's gonna occur. And something that the governor and I and the others are interested here, you're gonna see an uptick in growth taxes, sales taxes, capital gains taxes, issues that I have a profound interest in because I think that just under the heartbeat of an initiative like this, you still have to make the blood flow. So I think that the revenue side, I think the fact that you hired all organized labor and the fact that everybody of the 3,200 that are gonna be working here will be part of the union family. That speaks so well of what the spin off of this means. So today is a pretty good day for the mayor and his staff and for MGM and again to the governor for his leadership. But it's really a nice day for a city that has had plenty of challenges over the course of, it's more than almost 400 year history. But you know what? It's the resiliency of the people of this valley that have made the difference. When the mayor noted what it looked like after that tornado, let us never discount the role that hope, let us never discount the role that enthusiasm and finally never let us underestimate the role that optimism plays every single day in our lives. Congratulations from the United States of America. Thank you, Congressman. And I was with Jim when he dragged me to the, to the Armory and I was like, Jim, there's no cameras here. Why are we, so that's a true story. Working in the casino industry comes with the knowledge that we operate in one of the most highly regulated industries in the world. Many expect this to be an adversarial arrangement. That is never the case with MGM because MGM wants the same thing that the regulators want, a clean, well run by the rules, fully accountable operation. Our next speaker is the man who had the challenging task of chairing the Massachusetts Gaming Commission as the Commonwealth oversees the opening of his first casino licensee. The process was at times a little daunting for both sides, but under his leadership, we arrived here today after a few very, very, very long hearings, but we're fully licensed and approved and ready to open our doors. He has been fair, even-handed and professional through the entire process, as the entire commission has. As a group, they have ably represented the interests of the people of the Commonwealth throughout the entire process. I hope we have proven the commission's decision to award MGM Resorts, the Western Massachusetts license was indeed a good one. Please welcome the chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, Mr. Steven Crosby. Thank you, Mike. I know the feelings are mutual. I would be remiss if I started this morning without expressing my deep appreciation for the dozens and dozens of Mass Gaming Commission employees who have made this event possible. When we started out seven years ago, there were five commissioners, the chief of staff and an executive assistant, and we had no freaking idea how to start a casino gambling industry. Our legal staff, our ombudsman, the staff at our home office who support us, our racing division who have kept that important part of our business humming, the folks at Plain Ridge Park Casino who performed admirably even while Plain Ridge has served as sort of a test site for the MGM Casino. And especially our investigations and enforcement bureau who have spent countless days and countless weeks investigating, licensing, training, practicing, and overall assuring the security and integrity of this extraordinary facility. So thank you, Gaming Commission staff for your tremendous dedication and professionalism. When Governor Patrick signed the expanded gaming legislation in November of 2011, he made clear the aspirations that he and the legislature had for the new destination resort casinos. He said, I've always believed that if done right, expanded gaming can create jobs, generate new revenue, and I wanna emphasize this part, spur economic growth in every region of the Commonwealth. Casinos in Massachusetts were never just about jobs and revenue, although jobs are absolutely elemental, as Mayor Sarno said. The goal was to be creative and to use casino economics to anchor broad-based economic development to stimulate and support our existing leisure industries and to help redevelop self-selected communities that appreciated the potential of expanded gaming investment. MGM Springfield is clearly meeting and exceeding this highest aspiration as we see it anchoring the rebirth of this historic city. As a personal note, 18 years ago, I was Secretary of Administration and Finance and Governor Salucci's administration. This city was in state receivership. The state was managing this city. Look around. In addition to that aspiration, the Gaming Commission along with Mayor Sarno and the City of Springfield set out additional critical objectives for this project to achieve. Integration with the history and culture of Springfield and the region. I thought it was voluntary, but I see it wasn't. Collaboration with other amenities and other attractions in the region, ready access to non-gaming amenities and activities on the site. Historic preservation, which we've heard about. Mitigation of traffic, problem gambling and other unintended consequences of expanded gaming. Diversity and inclusion in its workforce and suppliers a goal that it has met admirably. And as the Mayor said, local hires and local vendors. We've watched and worked with MGM Springfield year after year as it has met and exceeded all of those critical objectives as well. I know I speak for all of the gaming commissioners past and present, we have both here. When I say that we're proud to have selected MGM, we're very proud to have worked with Mayor Sarno and his team to bring this project to fruition. And we're hopeful that MGM Springfield will serve as a national model for future urban mixed use casino development. After seven long years, I say it's about time to party. Thanks very much. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I met our next speaker in the midst of our second statewide ballot measure. We had already been approved once, but we're abruptly facing a second vote. He was a candidate seeking higher office at the time and candidates often in that position avoid controversial issues like casino initiatives. However, he saw our project for what it was, a significant investment in the future of Springfield and an economic development engine that would fuel growth for the entire region with thousands of new career opportunities and good contracts for local businesses. I have always credited him for taking that bold stand. I am happy he is here with us today as it gives me another opportunity to publicly thank him for support both then and now. Please welcome to the podium, the governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the most widely respected and popular governor in the United States, the honorable Charlie Baker. Thank you, Mike. So first of all, congratulations to all involved. I had a chance to take a walk through this place about a month and a half ago on a Saturday with the mayor and Mike and some other folks. And I got asked about it and I said, this place is gonna blow people away. And every story that's been written about it from the folks who've had a chance to walk through and take a look at it has been a story in which people constantly say over and over again, this thing has wildly exceeded whatever my expectations were. And I'm not all that surprised that the product of the work that's been done by so many has delivered on that because as you heard from Steve Crosby and as you heard from the mayor and as you've heard from other speakers across almost every measure that MGM's been measured on since they got involved in this initiative, they've done what they said they were gonna do and then some, which is the sign of a truly terrific opportunity for partnership. Now, the lieutenant governor and I like to get out of the office for a lot of reasons. But part of it is because we are both former local officials and we like to be able to look people in the face and walk the neighborhood or the community or the city or the district that they represent and to see firsthand what's real. And when I was a candidate for governor I did come out here and I walked the site and I heard the story. The idea here was not to build a separate entity that stands alone and sits by itself up on a hill somewhere. The idea was to revitalize an urban community and an urban neighborhood and to build a multi-dimensional recreation and entertainment facility. I can't believe you put that word in there, Jim, that would fit, that would fit. And it was unlike anything I've ever heard anybody in this business talk about before. And shortly after that I was doing my candidate interview with the folks at the Springfield Republican and they asked me about the ballot question and I said I was gonna vote no. And then they said well if people in Massachusetts vote yes that's kind of an issue for us here in Springfield because our people voted overwhelmingly thanks to our family in support of it. And I said well if I'm fortunate enough to get elected governor I'll file legislation to see if we can make it happen. Now no one on my team had any idea that I was gonna say that. Little burst of flame. But I said that because I'd seen with my own eyes and had talked to the folks that were involved and I could see the possibility, the big possibility to use the congressman's word that this represented and was all about. And I also believe it's a big statement about the people of Springfield, the local elected and appointed officials and the folks who never quit and never give up because this is what they call home. And it's a terrific day when you have a global enterprise that can choose to locate these types of operations in a lot of different places. And they put their foot down and say we're gonna invest in the people. We're gonna invest in the community. We're gonna invest here. And I remember meeting with the trades at some point when I was a candidate as well and talking to them about the possibilities and the opportunities associated with this. And this is a beautiful building. And all the men and women who worked on it, it's creative, it's incredibly Springfield centric. There are so many elements of this place that are subtle but speak loudly about the commitment that everybody made to honor the history and all that makes this part of Massachusetts special. And to the trades, I just wanna say to you, this is an incredibly well done achievement, congratulations. And the final thing I wanna say to Jim and to all the folks at MGM, this is a big day. But I have no doubt there are gonna be many big days associated with the impact that this enterprise and this project is gonna have on this community and this region. And to you, Mayor Sarno, who I talk to all the time about this thing, because he leaves no stone unturned ever about anything, congratulations and God bless. And I can't wait to have a chance to come play here but the LG and I are gonna be busy for a while. Thank you very much. I don't know how you did that without notes or anything, that's like Marvel. So as you've just heard, we've enjoyed the benefit of an outstanding base of support for this project from this community and from Massachusetts. But the true driving force behind MGM Springfield came from within and from the very top of our company. From day one, our chairman Jim Marin took a very personal interest in this project. Building a resort so close to where he grew up and spent formative periods of his life made this a very personal thing. Very early in the process, Jim heeded the advice of Congressman Neal and others and asked that we become students of local Springfield history and Western mass traditions. He insisted MGM Springfield represent the spirit of Springfield. Jim has studied urban planning at Trinity College, not far from here. We pulled from the archive shelves from that Armory visit that we've talked about and looked through what the city planners were thinking back in the early 20th century. People use cities like Vienna and Paris as models for what they mapped out for downtown Springfield. That was the ambition and the vision of the residents of the city of Springfield back in its heyday. We poured over those archives. The only way a person possessing both the knowledge and passion for cities and streets could do, like Jim Marin. Jim showed me how Springfield's tremendous prosperity attracted architects from some of the finest cities in the world to design streets and buildings here. He showed me how Frederick Olmsted, the architect of New York City's Central Park, came here to design Springfield's Forest Park. And for those of you that have been through Forest Park, it looks a lot like Central Park. It's pretty astonishing. He showed me the pride reflected in these streets and the façades of the buildings that still stand here, some of which we worked so hard to preserve. He wanted us to design a building that would be worthy of standing on Main Street next to those achievements and support our renaissance in Springfield. He inspired me personally. He inspired our team and he inspired this community. We are proud to be here. We are proud of what we've achieved here but not nearly as proud as he is. Please welcome to the podium our chairman and CEO, Jim Marin. Well, good morning, Springfield. How are you all doing there? What do you think of that video? My mom didn't like the word there but we doctored it up a little bit. She still didn't like it. So before I get started, I just have to acknowledge somebody who's on the stage with us. But without his passion, I would not be here today. MGM would not be here today. The 3,000 jobs would not have been hired. And of course I'm talking about my partner and one of Springfield's best people, Mr. Paul Piknelli. Please stand up, Paul, please. So as we prepare to open this beautiful resort, we celebrate quite a few firsts. This is actually the first time we've used the Aria Ballroom, so it's working out okay. 24 hours, it'll be the first time we open up this beautiful resort. And of course, this will be the first property MGM resorts has in New England which is obviously very close to my heart. We're just getting started because of course Springfield is not unfamiliar with firsts, the first US Armory, the first Monkey Wrench, first Dictionary. Springfield was even the first Springfield. And what has been accomplished here spread throughout the United States is a model of civic pride in middle class prosperity. And yes, MGM is all in on that in a city that heralds its firsts. This is a city that shuts down Main Street to have a pancake breakfast, how cool is that? We want to be a part of that. This is a city that leads the way in economic revitalization, creating a model for others to follow and we want to be a part of that. And as we have been a part of this history and the milestones that we've admired, we wanted to create a few new traditions for Springfield. How about a new tradition of creating 3,000 hospitality jobs right here in Springfield? How about a new tradition of supporting local families and giving more than 35% of those jobs to people who actually live right here in Springfield? And how about a new tradition of supporting local businesses, local-owned companies, women-owned companies, veteran-owned companies, minority-owned companies right here in the Commonwealth and right here in Springfield? That's a tradition that's worth keeping going for an awful long time. And while we're on traditions, how about a tradition of not trying to do everything within the four corners of your property but reach out into the community, the museums, the beautiful public spaces, the nonprofits to create a truly integrated community. That's a tradition that MGM is always a part of and that's a tradition worth fighting for and we're just getting started. But before I get any further, I want to acknowledge at least what means so much to me. Mayor Sarno, has anyone been to Mayor Sarno's office? Holy cow, it's like a museum of stuff. Everyone from two-year-olds to 100-year-olds have left little mementos for Mayor Sarno. He keeps everything. What a pack rat you are, Mayor. But I've never met a person, man or woman, that cares more about a city than the mayor. And we connected early on because you see there's a little bond between us. Mayor Sarno, the son of a barber, played high school baseball and was a catcher. And I played high school and college ball and I was a pitcher. But the funny thing happened all along the way. The catcher started pitching the pitcher. Well, all kinds of ideas, Mayor Sarno. But we really got on super well early. Congressman Neal, that's right. We did talk quite a bit about urban planning and Springfield. All my staffers were all fussed up. They wanted me to talk about salt machines and tables. They want to talk about what would be the reason MGM should be here versus those bad guys that tried to be here. And we never got into that. We started talking about General Washington. Started talking about Rolls Royce making cars here. Started talking about Indian motorcycle, Webster's dictionary. We started talking about the beauty and the pride and the diversity of this city. I think we had about four or five meetings. I don't think Casino came up and my guys thought it was a total failure, but I guess it worked out okay, right? And the governor, as Mike said, first time I met your governor, it was candidate Baker. And candidate Baker, you took some heat for this. And there's a whole bunch of good stuff going on in Boston. There's cranes all over the place. But I spent a lot of time here in Springfield. And I got a sense that Springfield fell rightly. It's kind of getting left behind in the economic juggernaut that's happening on the other side of the state. Now candidate Baker could have played it safe, but he didn't because he recognized that if he was going to be your governor, he was going to represent the Commonwealth, not part of it, not half of it, all of it. And I got to thank you for that, Governor Baker, because that was courage and you showed it then. And I hope you feel good about this decision right now. So thank you, Governor Baker. So this sounds like it's all fun. We all got along really well, right? Well, that wasn't the case. So MGM comes in. There's Las Vegas Company. I kept talking from Connecticut. They kept saying you live in Las Vegas. And I got myself in front of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. And I got grilled by them and by the chairman. And one thing became abundantly clear. There wasn't any question that they would not be willing to ask. You better have a good, clear, precise, transparent, honest answer. And I gotta say, Chairman Crosby, you were tough, but always fair. You were transparent. And I hope that you feel like, even from the very beginning, we were that kind of company. Because we believe we need to earn our right to be in communities. I believed we need to earn our right to be in Massachusetts. And every day we wake up and say, how do we be the best kind of corporate citizen for the Commonwealth? And I will commit to you, as long as I have a breath in my body, I will continue to do that. So thank you Chairman Crosby. Ethel, Ethel, Ethel, Ethel looked me in the eye. She's a scary person when she gets mad. She said, don't be coming to my town and messing it up. And you better have all the right answers. And but there was a lot of uneasiness around here about what was going on. And Ethel commands a room. And Ethel said, okay, I got a bunch of questions. We answered them. She said, wait young man, I got a bunch more questions. We answered them and then she jumped on board and it's really wonderful to see you with us today Ethel. Thank you very much. I remember well when we talked about what would be the best possible gaming legislation. Massachusetts wasn't the first to the party. Gaming exists in many states in the United States as you know. It's not governed by federal law, thank God. It's a state's law issue. And every state has their own set of rules, their own legislation, their own regulation. And Massachusetts in 2011 wanted to, if they were going to do it, they wanted to do it right. And they wanted to get it right. And Representative Joseph Wager, you did it. You got it right. You made it right. It's a great piece of legislation. It's tough, it's clear, it's fair. You hold people accountable. You're representing the commonwealth, its citizens. And because, as the governor said, we don't have to go everywhere. We will only go where we feel we're gonna be given a fair shake where the regulation's gonna be robust. It's gonna be tough because I'm in the privileged licensed business. Now what does that mean to you all? That means if I mess up anywhere, that jurisdiction has the privilege of kicking me the heck out of there. So, you know, I knew I wanted to be in place. That was tough. And I wanna thank you very much for that. And earlier this week, Senator Eric Lesser was here. Important advocate of this. He's not here today, but incredible important roots to this community. And he was someone that wanted to get here right away and did. Now, this day wouldn't have come without knocking on a lot of doors, shaking a lot of hands, drinking a whole bunch of iced tea. We met a lot of people. Some people believing in us. Some people not so sure. But they listened. They challenged us. They asked difficult questions. They made sure we knew what they stood for, what Springfield was all about. And throughout it all, I got such an overwhelming sense of the resiliency of the men and women here. The ones that have worked so hard to make a living for themselves and their families when things weren't so great. And what we try to do here is reflect that spirit, that strength, that resiliency. And as Mike said, I do have a connection here to Springfield, going to school in the dark ages of the early 80s at Trinity College because this was the place, the only place to see the great concerts, the Grateful Dead, the doors. And yes, Mike, in 1981, I saw the kinks here at the Springfield Civic Center. We're bringing all that entertainment back. All of it's coming back. It's not gonna be messing around at Mohegan Sun anymore. We're a little bit bigger than them. We're bringing entertainment back here, starting with a guy you might've heard of, Stevie Wonder's coming back here. We had a whole bunch of audacious, very ambitious plans. But one of the early things you gotta do when you tackle a new project is find the leader. And we made a daring move. We plucked somebody out of a totally different field in our company, a person that we had great hopes for, that has great potential, that was going to be a great kind of leader that would reflect that resiliency, the strength of character, the beauty of the people of Springfield. We wanted somebody that would grow, somebody who's willing to move their family across the country, and to locate into your commonwealth, put their kids in your schools, and become the kind of leader that we expect of all of our leaders. And I think you would agree that we accomplished that in our president, Mike Mathis. We had a whole bunch of other audacious goals. How about moving to church on Easter Sunday? How's that one grab ya? We did that one. How about restoring and re-imagining an iconic city landmark, the Armory? Well, we did that one too. We rescued skylights, bank vaults, exterior facades from crumbling buildings. We restored them and incorporated them into our vision to honor the history and the spirit of the city. Was it difficult? Yes. But it was not impossible. Was it worth the effort? Absolutely. Because that is exactly Springfield. Ambition, audacious resiliency. That's what we tried to capture here. Springfield reflects New England's greatness, industrial manufacturing cities, and a world economy. Now that economy has changed, but you would not count these people out. The companies, prior management, bankruptcies, all created a bad path. But then you had a man named Mayor Sarno. Who took the reins of your city and led them out. And thank you again, Mayor Sarno, for what you've done for your city. Cities, towns are sometimes struck by natural disaster. Of course, as you know, that happened here. But through that tragedy in 2011 came opportunity. And it is true. We came there almost immediately after the tornado. When I met a man who I introduced before, Paul Picnelli. We already did that once. We'll get there tonight. Paul took me up to his office in Monarch Place. We looked out, Paul remember, across the south end. And what could we see but destruction, sadness. And we saw blue tarps everywhere. Blue tarps trying to keep Mother Nature away from buildings that had been so badly beaten, badly damaged. We looked across the river. We looked up and down. And Paul said, we gotta get out of here. We drove around the city. Now Mayor, Paul drives a little fast, so just a warning. But he wanted to show me everything. We went everywhere. Those are the kind of folks I wanna go to battle with. The kind of folks that care so much. That's the kind of company I think I work for. And I wanna thank you again for that, Paul. Emily Dickinson wrote, luck is not chance, it's toil. Fortune's expensive smile is earned. The resilient people I've met here in Springfield know that that is true. And I believe that with our hard work, we have earned Fortune's smile. What we're really doing here, folks, is investing in the revival of a great American city. And I'm reminded of that every time I come here. The first thing I do is go to the Palazzo Coffee Shop and see Louisa. Louisa, where are you? Stand up, Louisa. Now, the coffee's pretty good. Pastries are better. But truth be told, that's not why I go. I go to talk to Louisa, her colleagues, to hear what's going on in Springfield. To again get energized by your commitment to the city. It's infectious. And so, to Louisa and all the people I've met, to the people on this stage, our journey has been deliberate, thoughtful. It's been inclusive and thorough. I credit the Commonwealth for creating that good law. I credit the gaming commission for upholding high standards. And I tell you today that we just didn't build a beautiful building. For you in labor, you actually were cementing the spirit of Springfield. A place where people will travel and visit. A place where thousands of careers will be launched. A place where countless business proposals and marriage proposals will be made. You're building the future of Springfield. And so for labor, for our construction trades, from the bottom of my heart, I wanna thank you very much. A couple days ago, we had a pep rally. Now it's a tradition in our company where we get the folks together a couple days before opening. I've had the honor of being at a few of them. We've opened a bunch of stuff in my time. It's one of the most humbling, rewarding days that I get to have. And this day, I got to see 3,000 men and women packed into the Mass Mutual Center with their clappers going wild in the electricity. We got a little nutty for a while there. The electricity, the enthusiasm, the sense of hope was really emotional for all of us. This is all about, today's all about, the people that make all these buildings make sense. We can build the prettiest buildings. They mean nothing unless we invest in the people, the human capital, the people that create the experiences. And I think we've done the best job we've ever done of finding the most talented men and women to operate here in MGM Springfield. I'd love to be a part of that. So let me close with those people in mind. And to do so, I'm gonna borrow words from a man who not only grew up in Springfield, but actually lived in a home within gaze of our iconic armory. One whose unique silhouettes is forever memorialized in the drawings of a talented young man named, of course, Theodore Geisel. Writing as Dr. Seuss, he offers wisdom for just about every occasion. Today I think this is appropriate. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it'd be easy. They just promised it would be worth it. Springfield, you took a chance. I promise it'll be worth it. Thank you. Thank you.