Mohegan Tribe continues to expand gaming footprint around the globe

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

From left: James Gessner Jr., Interim Chairman of Mohegan Tribe; Richard Taylor, President of Niagara Casinos; Mario Kontomerkos, CEO of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment; and Stephen Rigby, President & CEO of Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation. Photo courtesy Mohefgan Gaming and Entertainment

The Mohegan Tribe has expanded its gaming and entertainment portfolio to Canada amid ongoing efforts closer to home.

As of Tuesday, Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment is managing the Casino Niagara and the Fallsview Casino Resort, both in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The deal also includes the Niagara Falls Entertainment Centre, a 5,000-seat venue that's due to open this summer.

“As a company known for our all-encompassing integrated entertainment properties and extraordinary guest experiences, we are proud to be part of the transformation of the Niagara gaming and entertainment scene as operators of the iconic dual-anchored casino properties, including the future Niagara Falls Entertainment Centre,” CEO Mario Kontomerkos said in a press release on Wednesday.

Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment's portfolio includes the Mohegan Sun, an Indian gaming facility in Connecticut, and the Mohegan Sun Pocono, a commercial facility in Pennsylvania. The firm also has a role in managing tribal and commercial properties in New Jersey, Washington and Louisiana.

South Korea will also be joining the family. Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment and its partners have won the license to develop Inspire, a $5 billion gaming, retail, hospitality and entertainment resort to be located near the capital city of Seoul.

Back home in Connecticut, the Mohegans joined forces with the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation to open a state-permitted gaming facility. The Trump administration, for unexplained reasons, kept the Tribal Winds Casino in limbo for almost two years before ensuring the development could proceed in March.

With the project back on track, the tribes emerged as potential partners in another gaming facility. But a deal failed to emerge as lawmakers closed their session last week, The Hartford Courant reported.

Tribal Winds is to be located in East Windsor. The location was chosen to compete with a non-Indian commercial facility that just opened across the border in Massachusetts.

Talks for another facility are focused on Bridgeport, where the non-Indian operator of the Massachusetts property also sought a casino. Bridgeport is about 60 miles from midtown Manhattan in New York City.

Read More on the Story

Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment to Assume Control of Ontario’s Niagara Casino Bundle Tuesday (Casino.org June 10, 2019)
Mohegan Gaming assuming management of Canadian casinos (The New London Day June 7, 2019)
New Falls casino operators June 11 (The Niagara Falls Review May 24, 2019)
Lamont says any casino proposal for Bridgeport must include tribes (The Hartford Courant June 7, 2019)
Last-minute struggle over Bridgeport casino flares up on legislature’s final day (The Hartford Courant June 5, 2019)
Inspire Korea has all permits, approvals: Mohegan CEO (Greater Gaming Asia May 10, 2019) $P

Federal Register Notices

Indian Gaming; Amendment to Class III Gaming Procedures for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe (March 25, 2019)
Indian Gaming; Tribal-State Class III Gaming Compact Taking Effect in the State of Connecticut (June 1, 2018)

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