The Massachusetts Gaming Commission expects to complete its investigation into the suitability of Las Vegas casino giant Wynn Resorts to build and operate a casino in the state by summer, gaming commissioners said during a Thursday hearing.

It also became known Thursday that officials for Wynn Boston Harbor, the $2.4-billion integrated resort currently under development in the Greater Boston area, are “absolutely considering a rebranding of the project”.

The Massachusetts gaming regulator opened an investigation into Wynn Resorts and the company’s suitability to operate in the state’s nascent casino market after the publication of an extensive report by the Wall Street Journal containing multiple sexual harassment allegations against casino mogul Steve Wynn. The allegations were brought up by former and current employees of the company he found. Mr. Wynn stepped down from Wynn Resorts in February and sold his stake in it earlier this month.

Massachusetts gaming commissioners and Wynn Boston Harbor officials met on Thursday for a construction update and a presentation about the hiring plans for the towering casino resort. Gaming regulator also provided a quick update on their progress in the ongoing probe.

As mentioned above, the investigation will likely be completed by the summer. Stephen Crosby, Chairman of the Gaming Commission, pointed out once again that construction work on the casino resort, currently being built in the city of Everett, must proceed as planned. The top gaming official further explained that all involved parties need to be mindful of the thousands of jobs at risk as a result from the Steve Wynn scandal and the economic benefits a project of this scale will bring to the region.

Despite the above comments, Mr. Crosby stressed on the fact that the future of Wynn Boston Harbor is still unclear and that Wynn Resorts proceeds with the project “on an at-risk basis”, which, among other things, could mean that depending on the Commission’s findings during its investigation, the casino company might even lose its Massachusetts license.

Wynn Boston Harbor President Robert DeSalvio said Thursday that they are “absolutely” considering a name change, but refused to provide more information about the potential new name of the resort. Local media outlet the Boston Herald reported that Wynn Resorts Holdings recently registered nine website names containing the casino company’s Encore brand, with some of those being encorebostonresort.com, encorebostonharborcasino.com, and encorebostonjobs.com.

A spokesman for Wynn Resorts did not confirm whether a rebranding to Encore was under consideration, but explained that whenever they open a new property, they make sure to secure domain names of all their business units.

Mr. DeSalvio informed Massachusetts commissioners that construction work is on track for a summer 2019 opening and that they have the necessary funds to complete the integrated resort.

During a presentation about how Wynn Boston Harbor plans to train future employees, Mr. Crosby noted that casino officials did not dwell on sexual harassment training, which the gaming commissioner considered a major oversight. The regulator went on to say that given the shadows Wynn Resort had cast on it, the company should consider sexual harassment training an important part of its staff training courses.

The post Wynn Boston Harbor Rebranding ‘Absolutely’ under Consideration, Casino Executives Confirm appeared first on Casino News Daily.