Monday, December 29, 2014

Sunday Globe Special: Foxwoods Folds

"Conn. casinos double down on expanding attractions" by Mark Arsenault, Globe Staff  December 14, 2014

MASHANTUCKET, Conn. — The new chief executive at Foxwoods Resorts Casino, Felix Rappaport, likes to joke about how easy his job could have been in the 1990s, when the big problems in the executive inbox were “crowd control and counting the money.”

That was back when Foxwoods and neighboring Mohegan Sun were a regional duopoly, raking in billions each year and plowing much of the profit back into expanding and enhancing their sprawling resorts.

Those days seem long over, as the Great Recession and new competitive pressures have chipped away at the tribal casino empires in Southeastern Connecticut, eroding record gambling profits and leading to painful layoffs. Both casino companies tried expanding into Massachusetts, but neither won a license.

And now, both are undergoing changes in top leadership while bracing for a difficult new wave of competition after a Massachusetts referendum vote in November, which rejected a repeal of the state casino law and dashed Connecticut’s hopes that a longtime feeder market would stay out of the casino business.

“If I were Dorothy in the ‘Wizard of Oz’ and I could click my heels and have less competition? Sure,” Rappaport said, in a Globe interview. “But generally that doesn’t work. I don’t look particularly good in red slippers. And I’m a realist.”

Just follow the yellow brick road!

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It has been a difficult time for once-dominant US casino markets, outside of Las Vegas.

There has been "shrinkage."

In a possible escalation of the race with Massachusetts, Mohegan officials have floated the idea of another Connecticut casino near the Massachusetts state line to intercept locals who might otherwise gamble in Springfield.

A third casino sounds interesting to Connecticut Representative Peggy Sayers, of Windsor Locks, about 15 miles south of Springfield, who wants her fellow lawmakers to consider a “satellite casino,” possibly at the parimutuel business in her town. Otherwise, Sayers said, the gambling parlor could be hurt by competition from Massachusetts. “I see that as a loss for our community,” she said.

The new Indian wars of a New England.

Both tribal casinos face the new threat from Massachusetts at a time of transition....

Time for me to do some of my own.

For the reinvention of Foxwoods, Rappaport looks to modern-day Las Vegas, where successful resorts now make more money on nongambling amenities, including rooms, restaurants, and nightclubs, than they do on profits from slots and table games. He wants to grow nongambling revenue and make the resort “stickier” by adding attractions to encourage guests to come more often and stay longer....

“If we could get the average stay up to two days and get more people to come here on weekend packages, and get more convention business . . . the more we can provide what I would consider the complete resort experience, the better off we’ll be,” he said. “That’s really my vision for the future.”

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Next spring, a 300,000-square-foot Tanger outlet mall is scheduled to open at the resort. Rappaport believes it will bring “a competitive advantage that even some of the new properties like Springfield and Everett won’t have, at least not on that scale.”

That's my problem with all this -- after we were told it would bring jobs and grow the local economy! 

Now they are going to move out of gambling (after the 1% sucked up all the loot) and become the local mall?

“Obviously not everybody in America gambles and that’s OK,” he said. “If they want to come here and shop and eat and drink and bowl, we’ll be glad to accommodate them.”

Whether the Las Vegas model can work in New England is up for debate.

“Everybody talks about doing it but in reality, outside of Las Vegas, casinos tend to be gaming-centric,” said industry expert and publisher Frank Fantini. “People don’t go to the casino to go to the outlets. And it’s nice that the arena at Mohegan Sun is the number one arena in the country for its size . . . but by and large, if I’m going to get on a bus or in my car to go to Mohegan Sun, it’s going to be to gamble.”

Last January, chief executive Scott Butera, who left to become commissioner of the Arena Football League, announced that Foxwoods wanted to build a resort in Fall River and would aggressively pursue the resort casino license for Southeastern Massachusetts. But the casino and the city did not reach a compensation deal and the project seems dead.

Foxwoods was also a partner in a Milford casino plan rejected by town voters in 2013.

Neither Mitchell Etess, chief executive of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, nor Rappaport ruled out a bid for the Southeast license last week, but neither sounded enthusiastic about taking another spin at breaking into the Massachusetts market....

I already left the table, too. Sorry.

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More Sunday visions of the future Las Vegas:

"Everett casino plans changing under Steve Wynn’s watchful eye" by Mark Arsenault, Globe Staff  December 28, 2014

LAS VEGAS —  Steve Wynn, he 72-year-old billionaire was in top spirits earlier this month during an interview at the villa he shares with his wife, Andrea, at the Wynn and Encore resort casino on the Vegas Strip. He was dressed for the gym, in dark sweat pants and a white T-shirt that purported to quote Socrates (“To do is to be”), Plato (“To be is to do”) and Sinatra (“Do be do be do.”)

Not "I Can't Breath?"

On a nearby table in the home office, among a clutter of Christmas cards, his eclectic taste in art is on display  — a portrait of Wynn’s dogs by emerging Texas watercolorist George W. Bush.... 

I'm out!!!!

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The flopThird resort casino in Mass. is a risky bet

The turnTalks collapse between horsemen and Suffolk Downs owners

The riverJockey sues Suffolk Downs, alleging lax helmet policy

Time to show your hand:

A revival of live racing has not been ruled out

I guess that means they will be looking for another rider.... as will you:

"A lean Christmas for many laid-off casino workers" by Wayne Parry, Associated Press  December 24, 2014

ATLANTIC CITY — One got her Christmas dinner handed to her a week in advance in foil containers from a union food bank. Another can no longer afford to buy gifts for anyone. And a husband and wife are forgoing giving each other gifts to be able to afford presents for the kids.

This is a Christmas unlike any other for many of the 8,000 Atlantic City casino workers who have lost their jobs this year as four casinos shut down. 

I was told it was a great (pre-)holiday.

‘‘It’s definitely a tough Christmas this year,’’ said Yomari Blanco, who was laid off from the housekeeping job she had at Trump Plaza for 18 years. Two weeks earlier, her husband lost his job when the Showboat Casino Hotel shut down; he recently found some part-time work.

Her daughters, 8 and 6, enthusiastically believe in Santa Claus, but if it weren’t for the kindness of a family whose children go to school with Blanco’s daughters, there would not have been much under the tree this year.

‘‘I thank God for their generosity,’’ Blanco said. ‘‘Now the girls will have a Christmas.”

The Atlantic Club, Showboat, Trump Plaza, and Revel all shut down this year, and work is scarce in the remaining eight casinos.

Theresa Volpe, who served drinks at Trump Plaza 26 years, got Christmas dinner from a union hall. ‘‘It’s a tough, tight Christmas, that’s for sure,’’ said Volpe, who remains jobless. ‘‘A lot of people are cutting back, waiting until after Christmas when things are on sale to get their kids what they need.”

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Didn't even get dealt a hand.

NEXT DAY UPDATE: 

Look whose ready to give you more money:

Location of ATMs in Mass. casinos examined

State wants to get them in there so they can get their cut.

Also see: Cuomo wants new Southern Tier casino bids

Does the word over$aturated mean anything to you guys (never mind the wealth inequality destroying the underpinnings of the whole $y$tem as the greedy grab more)?