I heard that MGM has just started the foundation for the new Foxwoods addition . What loophole did they find/create to allow them access to the ';native American Only Market'; ?
I heard that this new addition will be Asian Market centered . Foxwoods feels that the NYC %26amp; Boston Markets are their Primary Target .
While I see the %26#39;need%26#39; and opportunity for an Asian-centric casino ,
I am personally turned off to places that make extreme efforts to attract a particular ethenic minority . Seems we should be a bit more proud of offering the %26#39;American Experience%26#39; .
';MGM Mirage, which owns and operates two dozen casinos in Nevada, Mississippi, and Michigan, is coming to Connecticut.
It has agreed to license its name to the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which owns the Foxwoods Resort Casino, for a $700 million hotel and casino adjacent to the existing Foxwoods resort.
The new hotel, to be called the MGM Grand, will have 825 rooms, a 5,000-seat theater, and 1,500 more slot machines than the current Foxwoods. It will be operated by Foxwoods employees.
As part of the deal, MGM will lend $200 million to the tribe%26#39;s development company, helping it develop a 600-acre casino resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Although MGM is a partial investor in Borgata Atlantic City , the deal with Foxwoods will yield significant brand-name exposure for MGM in the northeast.';
Foxwoods expansion
Old news, they have been building all summer and are way past the foundation stage.
Foxwoods expansion
Doesn%26#39;t seem terribly mysterious how they did it - they are ';licensing their name'; to the tribe. I%26#39;m sure that ';loan'; is structured some way that will allow them a cut of revenues from the casino.
I can post you a bunch of links from our local papers if you are interested. (Hopefully they are still there....) When this came to light, our Attorney General attempted to block it. No go. I have several friends employed in various positions throughout Foxwoods. In a nutshell, they grew too fast for their own good %26amp; got into financial trouble.
Mohegan did their expansion in a different way. The tribe did not want to have debt, and therefore agreed to reduce the amount of their stipends-or profit sharing if you will--during the construction phase of the hotel and the ';new'; casino of the sky until it was paid off. This was a very wise financial move. While their debt repayment structure did not totally wipe out their profit sharing checks (I know a native member-his aunt was the medicine woman -her statue is in the upstairs lobby) He, and his wife %26amp; their 3 children receive approximately $40,000 per year stipend during the debt reduction payment period. They used to receive more in 1999 and that was before the expansion and the casino increased in popularity.
Mohegan is/was much better financially situated than Foxwoods. They didn%26#39;t have a choice but to seek outside funding.
allure.Agree with you 100% on trying to attract just certain groups. Thats what turned me off about not caring if we go back to Vegas. They are catering so much to just the Asian market(its getting hard to find and American t.v. channel).So we figure,get the Asians money,we%26#39;ll spend ours elsewhere.
I wonder if the casino%26#39;s are hurting themselves in the long run by catering to the Asian Market .Many of the Asian gamblers are from NYC where they previously gambled in illegal Asian-centric clubs . What happens if and when these groups become intergrated into American Culture ? Will the casinos be able to attract the non Asian Market back ?
AC Casinos jumped on the dance club market and now that is going away . Worship ( Showboat) is doing very poorly . Missles ( Trop) is trying to attract a 30+ crowd but is having trouble adapting . Casbah ( Taj) has become a draw for a seedy crowd . Club Tru sent the gay crowd away and now is struggling as the straight dance club fad is dying out .The only one doing good in AC is Mixx ( Borgata) , and maybe 40-40 (Caesar%26#39;s ).
It seems a recipe for disaster to allow companies like MGM to find loopholes so they can participate in Native American Casinos with a whole different set of rules and regulations . Perhaps Foxwoods had a plan to be in debt ,knowing this would force the government%26#39;s hand to allow MGM to %26#39;rescue%26#39; them . The OP seems to indicate that MGM would own the new hotel %26amp; casino with 2,500 slot Machines . Are these taxed and operated under USA or Native American Tribal Law ? If this is a USA casino - Fine ! Then they just found a loophole to open up in CT. No problem with that . Now if they could find a loophole to get them around the CT 12:45am %26#39;last call%26#39; for beverage service -lol
allure--I am right there with ya on that one!!!!!! We do get an extra hour on the weekends...whoo hoo!!
Money, I agree with you also-the last time I went into Mohegan Sun-I swear there were more Asian people there than American/any other race.
Apparently both Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun run very cheap junkets from NYC and Boston daily to appeal to Asian gamblers. Even my niece, who is a student in Boston, takes the junket bus from Boston to the casino, then gets another junket bus which takes her to NYC and home...all for $20, plus she gets her money back in coin. She tells me she is usually the only non-Asian person on the bus. I%26#39;m not aware of any similar, cheap bus junkets running from NYC to AC - and maybe that%26#39;s why the CT casinos are more attractive to Asian gamblers.
ACMama
Foxwoods and M Sun are nearer to NYC than AC , and the road tolls are much less . The Junkets are run by Asian owned businesses that have a strong following in the communities .It is almost a community service . They like their own Asian Market buses . Apparently Foxwoods reaches out to them .
Have you checked out the Caesar%26#39;s AC site recently ? It is still in English lol , but asks if you would like the Korean , Chinese , or Vietnamese versions . ( No other choices .)
We go to both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun very frequently and I wouldn%26#39;t say that either of them is targeting a certain ethnic market. Foxwoods does have a larger Asian crowd than Mohegan, but I think every ethnicity is well represented at both casinos.
I get tons of offers from both places and am not Asian. They take my money just as quickly as they take an Asians.
As for the MGM expansion at Foxwoods, MGM is involved only with the hotel, not with the gaming at all. The MGM name will be only the new hotel/casino expansion, but all gaming will be controlled and handled by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, not by MGM.
I don%26#39;t see that the new expansion will be geared more toward Asians than any other group.
I think that when a casino puts both Asian and English script , and not French, Italian , etc . on their comp cards it is an indication of catering to a particular market . There are other Asian-centric perks at Foxwoods that other ethnic groups don%26#39;t receive . Also Foxwoods advertises heavily in Asian publications . And even their TV ads prominently feature Asian players . I read an MGM press release that stated that the new casino would cater heavily to the Asian market . There must be a reason that Foxwoods gets more of the Asian market in CT. Especially since Mohegan Sun is nearer to NYC and Boston .
I have never been to Mohegan Sun . But based on the TV commercials I have seen , they cater to newbies to the casino and nightclub scenes .
While I realize that the Tribe will run All the gaming . I imagine that MGM somehow profits from the gambling revenue . So I am also sure they can influence decisions regarding gaming . Both of these things seem to violate the spirit of the Native American Casinos Only law . It also allows MGM , an American Company to virtually operate under Tribal Law while circumventing American Civil Law . For example , if Foxwood%26#39;s MGM Casino refuses to pay off a prize or winnings , will you be able to sue MGM in an American Civil Court . How aboutif you suffer an injury . At Foxwood%26#39;s and M S you are at the mercy of their Tribal Council . Puttting an American name , MGM , on the establishment could deceive people into thinking they are protected under U.S. law .
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