Mohegan Gaming has received initial approval to operate casino space in Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
The tribe received unanimous approval from the Nevada Gaming Control Board and would be the first Native American gaming company to operate on the Las Vegas Strip. It will operate as Mohegan Sun at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas on the site of the former Hard Rock Las Vegas.
The remodeled property is scheduled to open in January. The Gaming Control Board ruled that the tribe does not have to sign a tribal gaming compact with Nevada since it is leasing and managing the space from another company, and the location is not on sovereign tribal land, according to CDC Gaming Reports.
The Nevada Gaming Commission will consider the Control Board’s recommendation on Oct. 22.
“We have a phenomenal opportunity here,” Mohegan CEO Mario Kontomerkos told gaming regulators. “This is an opportunity to showcase who we are and our brand.”
However, the tribe is not currently looking at managing other sites in Nevada at this time, he said.
Nevada gaming executive Joe Hasson, general manager of the casino, told the board that the Mohegan brand won’t be on the building, but electronic signage outside the property will market the name.
JC Hospitality, owns the property and brought in Virgin Hotels to operate the property’s 1,110 guest rooms. AEG will oversee entertainment at the property.
The property was closed for remodeling in February and Hasson said work has been complicated by the Covid-19 pandemic, as will the planned reopening of the property.
Kontomerkos told regulators that Las Vegas was a key component in the company’s growth strategy and the company hopes to have a 22,000-person workforce at the property by 2025.
