Connecticut Tribal Casinos Join Forces Against Competition
The tribal casinos in Connecticut, Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, are partnering in an advertising campaign as each sees the threat from expanding gambling in the area as more dangerous than the other. Both casinos declined in earnings this past year, while more gambling has arrived and even more may be on the horizon.
Connecticut regulators say the Mohegan Sun, operated by the Mohegan Tribe, lost seven percent in May compared to the previous year. Foxwoods, owned by the Pequot Tribe, fell fourteen percent in the same time periods.
Each tribe has seen Pennsylvania gambling sprout and grow at a tremendous rate, drawing customers from New York and New Jersey. More worrisome, Massachusetts is all but certain to create new gambling venues after the legislative session this fall, including a possible casino near the state's shared border with Connecticut designed to keep patrons in state and away from the tribal casinos.
And New York will open a casino at Aqueduct Race Track, and potentially more as tribes attempt to duplicate the success of the Connecticut operations.
The two resorts will try to advertise their area as the gaming destination in the northeast US. Billboards are already dotting the New york City area, and the casinos are running an online contest featuring free stays at both locations.
"This is quite historic," Michael Speller, president of Mashantucket Pequot Gaming Enterprises, told the Wall Street Journal. He noted that officials at both gaming spots agreed that "we can drive more business together than we can individually."
