The resignation of Kevin “Red Eagle” Brown as chairman of the Mohegan Tribal Council came after a high profile two weeks, during which he gave no hint of stepping down. He spoke at a Connecticut legislative committee, at a chamber of commerce meeting, and took part in a quarterly earnings call with industry analysts.
Brown has been succeeded, at least temporarily, by interim Chairman James Gessner Jr., who has been the council vice chairman.
Last week Brown told the council he was resigning as chairman for personal reasons, effectively immediately. He will stay on the council and the management board of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE), the corporate arm of the tribe that oversees the running of the Mohegan Sun casino and all of the other gaming enterprises in several U.S. states and one under construction in South Korea. The tribe also owns the New England Black Wolves professional lacrosse team and Connecticut Sun women’s basketball team of the WNBA.
At the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut Brown appeared as the organization named Rodney Butler, Mashantucket Pequot chairman, as Citizen of the Year. He also didn’t hint at his departure in the conference call with analysts on the MGE’s first fiscal quarter.
Late in January Butler and Brown spoke to the legislature’s Public Safety and Security Committee, which oversees gaming, at which time they revealed the name of the jointly run casino they hope to open in East Windsor: Tribal Winds.
In the Mohegan tribal system, the tribe is run by a nine-member council, which then elects a chairman. Brown and Gessner’s terms expire in 2021. Brown is in the middle of his second term. Gessner is in his fourth term.
Brown leaves the chairmanship on a high note as MGE prepares to break ground in the second quarter of this year on a $1.6 billion integrated resort in South Korea: Inspire. The project, proposed for Incheon, is near to obtaining the final $200 million needed to begin. The tribe has already put up its $300 million contribution.
The tribe has engaged an investment bank to help raise the remainder, said Senior Vice President and CFO Drew Kelley recently. “We visited a number of institutions in late December. Many of the Asian markets have dramatically improved since those December visits to Singapore and Hong Kong among other places so we are very positively inclined as to the process there,” he was quoted by Inside Asian Gaming.
The project must undergo many government approvals and reviews. “We certainly believe that we are well positioned in the coming quarter to complete the financing and move towards construction,” he said.
The project is about 15.5 miles outside of the South Korean capital of Seoul. The $1.6 billion project will include $200 million in infrastructure and improvements by Incheon International Airport Corp and $900 million from a group of Korean corporations and institutions, says Mohegan CEO Mario Kontomerkos.
The first phase will include 700 slot machines, 150 gaming tables, a 15,000-seat arena, a climate-controlled dome in which there will be a large pool, rides, restaurants, retail shops, convention space and 1,250 hotel rooms. There will be a Paramount Pictures-branded theme park.
Although no actual groundbreaking has begun for Inspire, some site work, such as soil samplings, is underway.
MGE is also considering a bid for Japan’s first casino licenses.
It’s unclear what the surprise departure of Brown, a former officer in the U.S. Air Force, will have on these expansion plans. Brown was a steady force in the development of these plans, and the major tribal proponent of the Korean venture. Will lenders get cold feet in his absence? And what precipitated his resignation? Sources tell GGB News more information may be forthcoming about this action in weeks to come.
