Massachusetts gaming regulators have rejected a proposal to build a casino in the city of Brockton, removing a potential challenger to a tribal casino already under construction in the same region.

On Thursday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) voted 4-1 against the proposal by Rush Street Gaming subsidiary Mass Gaming & Entertainment to build a $677m casino on the Brockton Fairgrounds in the southeastern portion of the state.

The rejection was broadly telegraphed the day before, when MGC chairman Stephen Crosby publicly slammed the Mass Gaming proposal as a “great disappointment,” primarily because it lacked the necessary “wow factor.”

Crosby reiterated that view on Thursday, saying he’d have had a much harder decision had Mass Gaming presented a “knockout proposal and a great strategy to lift Brockton,” a city that suffers from high levels of poverty and unemployment. But Crosby ultimately determined that the Brockton proposal “does not meet the standards that are required to make the decision.”