Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE) has announced the promotions of two top executives, both of who are members of the Mohegan tribe.
Ray Pineault has been named to the just-created job of regional president and will oversee Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, Mohegan Sun Pocono in Pennsylvania, and Paragon Casino Resort in Louisiana. He was previously in charge of the tribe’s flagship property in Uncasville.
Pineault, 53, had been manager of Mohegan Sun since 2015, and before that was the casino’s executive vice president and chief operating officer.
MGE also promoted Jeff Hamilton, 37, to be president and general manager of the Mohegan Sun, filling the space left by the promotion of Pineault. He has been assistant general manager at the casino since 2015. He joined the casino in 2004.
The Connecticut-based company recently reported a 21 percent increase in quarterly revenues for the quarter that ended September 30.
MGE CEO Mario Kontomerkos issued this statement: “As a company in the midst of unprecedented growth, it is a priority for us as an enterprise to build the best team of senior executive leaders to support and oversee the continued development of MGE both domestically and internationally.”
He added, “We are confident that Ray will be instrumental in driving results within the growing fleet of Mohegan Gaming properties and couldn’t be more pleased to have Jeffrey Hamilton take the reins of our flagship resort.”
He characterized the company’s growth as “remarkable” in the light of competition from all quarters, especially from the Encore Boston Harbor, which opened in June. The company’s net for the quarter was $414 million, a 19.2 percent increase over the same quarter last year. Mohegan Sun, which Pineault had overseen, saw a 7.8 percent decline for the same period.
In September MGE was named operator of the casino that will be inside the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas development off of the Strip. The tribe becomes the first gaming tribe to manage a resort in Las Vegas. It also is developing an integrated resort in Incheon, South Korea and has bid on a casino license in Athens, Greece.
