Foxwoods MA Spent $1.1 Million on Failed Milford Casino Campaign

Foxwoods Massachusetts topped the $1 million mark on its campaign to bring a resort casino to Milford, according to campaign finance records filed Thursday with the Milford Town Clerk's office.

The campaign failed when voters in Milford rejected the proposed resort casino by a 2-1 margin Nov. 19.

According to the financial report submitted by Foxwoods, which covers expenditures through Dec. 8, the business spent $1,131,575, including $792,000 previously reported.

The bulk of its expenses were to The Rendon Group of Boston for campaign services, to Creative Strategies of Plymouth and Mission Control of Mansfield Center, CT, for professional services, and to the Petta Ryan agency of Natick for advertising.

The casino developer spent $95,482 on advertising in November alone, according to the report. The media companies that carried the ads were not specified.

Citizens for Milford's Future, a group whose funding came from Foxwoods, spent another $18,338 on the Milford casino campaign, according to its financial statement. The group spent the bulk of that — $12,872 — on advertising, through the Petta Ryan agency. That line item was not broken down into media companies.

Casino Free Milford, a group that opposed the casino, spent $14,026 in the reporting period, from Nov. 2 through Dec. 9., according to its report. The group previously reported spending $13,795, for a total of $27,821. It spent most of the money on advertising with the Town Crier and WMRC Radio, on mailings and on printing.