Mashantucket Tribe extends agreement for $1.7B casino debt

Wednesday, July 1, 2015

A view of the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut. Photo from Facebook

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The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation of Connecticut extended an agreement affecting $1.7 billion in casino debt, The New London Day reports.

The agreement was due to expire on Tuesday. But the tribe extended it to December 31, the paper said.

The tribe has continually extended the agreement as it pursues refinancing of its gaming debt. The forebearance, in which lenders agree not to take action against the tribe for failing to meet its obligations, goes as far back as October 2009, according to The New York Times.

The New England Casino Race: Tribal and commercial gaming facilities in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island

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The tribe incurred the debt through the operation and expansion of the Foxwoods Resort Casino. After the national economy collapsed in 2008, revenues at the facility began to fall.

The casino took in $960.1 million in the last fiscal year, the Day reported in January. That was a 7.7 percent drop from the year prior.

The Pequots are now pursuing a second casino in conjunction with the Mohegan Tribe. The tribes hope to counteract competition from neighboring Massachusetts.

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