Mohegan Sun to Expand Retail, Entertainment Options
The Mohegan Sun Tribal Casino in Connecticut is planning a $50 million upgrade to their property. The new space will be devoted to luxury retail, restaurants and dining, and will also feature a bowling alley and a movie theatre.
The Mohegan Sun, located in the town of Uncasville, is already among the country’s largest casinos. The casino first opened back in 1996 and employs about 10,000 people.
Improvements likely a response to gambling expansion in northeast region
Though the Mohegan tribe maintains otherwise, many speculate that the upgrades to the property are likely motivated not only by improvements at Foxwoods Resort Casino, which is also planning to add to and upgrade retail offerings, but also the expansion of casino gambling throughout the northeast region of the United States. For its part, Foxwoods is planning the construction of a new, $120 million retail shopping mall.
Also threatening to encroach upon the Mohegan Sun’s revenue stream is the fact that nearby Massachusetts has three new casino licenses up for grabs. New York is also in the beginning stages of the development of new casino properties in the upstate region of the state, after legislators there last week passed a casino expansion measure.
Mohegan Sun is hoping to enter into the Massachusetts gambling market; it is in competition for one of the western Massachusetts casino licenses. Deepening the rivalry, Foxwoods is similarly hoping to gain one of the much-coveted Massachusetts casino operating licenses.
Online gambling may also heighten competition in the area
In other examples of the proliferation of east coast gambling options, last year Delaware cleared the way for online wagering, an introduction that some gambling experts believe might cause a decline in land-based casino revenue, though that assertion has yet to be proven as Internet gaming is not planned to go live until the fall. New Jersey has also passed a law allowing its residents to place wagers over the Internet.
The tribe, however, has said that the overhaul of its retail operations are not motivated by increasing competition, but rather represents an ongoing plan that was originally formulated back in 2008. The project was derailed due to the financial crisis and ensuing recession, Mohegan officials said.
Mitchell Etess, who serves as the head of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, remarked, “This is not like, ‘Oh my God, Foxwoods is doing something, let’s hurry up.’ We need to eventually get back to finishing what we started.”
“It’s been our strategy all along to enhance the destination experience and have more of an attraction factor, to give people a reason to drive a little further,” Etess was quoted as saying.
