Increasingly constricted by a U.S. Northeast market nearing saturation, Connecticut’s gaming tribes are looking overseas to expand their empires.
The Mohegan Tribe, owners of the Mohegan Sun, want to build an integrated resort in Nagasaki, Japan. Mohegan Gaming and Entertainment (MGE) is partnering with Oshidori International Development Godogaisha to bid for the license. They will be among five bidders.
Oshidori will be responsible for development costs. MGE will leverage its brand and advise on management, operations and political affairs.
Japan is one of the last developed nations and certainly the largest economy not to have gaming, noted MGE CEO Mario Kontomerkos. He said Asia is a huge market encompassing Macau, the Philippines and Singapore. Total, meeting space, casino, arena and dining opportunities are “even larger potentially than what you have in Connecticut,” he said.
MGE operates 10 casinos and is developing integrated casino resorts in Incheon, South Korea and Athens, Greece.
The Mashantucket Pequots, owners of Foxwoods, are opening a casino in Puerto Rico in cooperation with LionGrove LLC, whose specialty is hospitality investments. They will reopen the fabled Fairmont El San Juan Hotel rebranded as Foxwoods El San Juan Casino before the end of 2021.
Together they are investing $120 million, including $15 million in the casino. According to Rodney Butler, chairman of the tribe, “We’ve been looking domestically and internationally for years. Some didn’t make sense. Others fell apart. This is not new. It’s certainly not related to the pandemic.” He added, “It’s a great fix for our business model.”
According to Keith Foley, senior vice president at Moody’s Investors Service, interviewed by the Hartford Courant, investment opportunities for the Connecticut casinos are “few and far.” He added, “You really don’t have a choice if you want to grow. You’re not going to grow in Connecticut. It seems like the opportunities are overseas.” It combines high risk and high reward, he concluded.
One advantage in investing overseas is that nearer rivals of the tribes, such as MGM Resorts, have no opportunity to thrust an oar in to thwart them, as it did when they were trying to build a satellite casino in East Windsor.
In addition, they don’t need the approval of the Connecticut state government, or Governor Ned Lamont, whom they are currently in negotiations with over sports betting.
