Column: Corporate sponsorship at Foxwoods Casino

Wednesday, January 23, 2008  

"Could the prospects for the casino business in Connecticut be worse than the slumping slots numbers in December might suggest?

I doubt it. Casinos in Massachusetts may still be a long way off. Even a nose-diving stock market probably doesn't churn many stomachs in the executive offices of the recession-resistant casino industry. Gambling is often the very last vice to go.

And yet it seems curious that the Mashantucket Pequots would consider selling the naming rights to their new 4,000-seat theater due to open this spring in the MGM Grand expansion.

The tribe has hired Brooklyn Sports Entertainment, an affiliate of the NBA's New Jersey Nets basketball team, to help find a corporate sponsor for the new theater. Brooklyn Sports, a big player in the burgeoning naming-rights business, recently brokered a $400 million deal with Barclay's Bank for the Nets' new arena in New York.

The sponsorship offering is still being worked out, according to the Foxwoods spokesman, but it would probably include the company's name on the theater and its marquee, on tickets and in posters, promotions and advertising.

I doubt a bank would want it. The Bank of America Theater at MGM Grand at Foxwoods doesn't sound right. Would the tag line be: “Why save it with us when you can wager it here?”

Maybe someone will step forward and go with the casino theme. The Marlboro Theater at MGM Grand might be appropriate. Or maybe it could be MGM's Stolichnaya Arena. How about a real show-stopper, like the Trojan Brand Condoms Pleasure Dome?

It's too bad the Mohegans can't slip into the bidding. How about Mohegan Sun at MGM Grand at Foxwoods? There are some dealers at Foxwoods who might chip in to call it UAW Hall."

Get the Story:
David Collins.: Psssst. Wanna Sponsor A Casino? (The New London Day 1/23)
pwday