A Split in a Landmark Tribal-Corporate Partnership?

We've given a number of presentations in the last several months on economic trends in Indian gaming. One trend that we discuss is the increase in tribal-corporate partnerships -- tribes partnering with Marriott, Harrahs, Radisson, and other hotel, resort, casino, entertainment, and restaurant companies. One of the biggest examples is the new MGM Grand at Foxwoods. But a Connecticut media outlet is reporting on a possible split between the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and MGM Grand.

Why the rumor of a split? According to the article, a new Foxwoods brochure depicts the MGM Grand tower without "MGM Grand" on it:

In a graphic on the brochure's cover, Foxwoods Resort Casino and the adjacent MGM Grand tower, both owned by the Mashantuckets, rise up out of the woods. Missing from the top of the tower's face is the distinctive “MGM GRAND” lettering and the MGM lion's head logo installed there in December 2007.

The article also reports that both the tribe and MGM Grand deny the rumored split.

Read more here: At Foxwoods MGM Grand, a sign of changes ahead?

Steve Quoted in New York Times Re. the Pequots/Mohegans

Here's a story about an interesting -- if outside the norm for most gaming tribes -- development in Connecticut. We're pleased to note that Steve is quoted in this New York Times story, reprinted in the International Herald Tribune.

The story is about the efforts of the highly successful Mashantucket Pequots (Foxwoods Resort and Casino, the world’s largest casino) and the Mohegans (Mohegan Sun) in Connecticut to invest in massive casino developments in Philadelphia, Kansas, Massachusetts, and elsewhere. The tribes are providing financing, venture capital, and management expertise. They’re partnering not only with other tribes, but also with major commercial gambling conglomerates like MGM Mirage.

Click here for the link in the September 22 edition of the Times.

If you are unable to access the article on the Times website because of registration issues, click here for the September 21st edition in the International Herald Tribune.

Will Wie Meet the Mohegans?

In yet another example of economic diversification using gaming revenue, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority recently completed a $4.4 million purchase of what now is called the Mohegan Sun Country Club, located some 20 minutes from the Mohegan Sun. The ceremonial kickoff featured 20 members of the LPGA Legends Tour, including a number of members of the LPGA Hall of Fame. The course also will host the Ahmad Rashad Celebrity Players Tour event in August.

Aside from the attractive and lucrative golf packages the Sun now can provide to its guests and Club members, do these specially manufactured “tournaments” indicate there’s more to come? With the prospects for professional tournament-level golf now in the their sights (talks with the LPGA at the site had stalled in prior years), can we expect to see the likes of Michelle Wie or Annika Sorenstam competing for big-time prize money at a Mohegan-sponsored LPGA tour event?

Different Eggs, Different Baskets

At the National Indian Gaming Association’s annual meeting last week, discussed here, NIGA Chair Ernie Stevens addressed a growing trend among tribes: economic diversification. Tribal governments are using gaming revenue to leverage all sorts of economic development opportunities, both on and off the reservation, that have nothing to do with gaming.

In addition to the obvious –- tourism and the like –- Stevens predicts that tribes will be at the cutting edge in green-energy practices, energy development, and individual entrepreneurship.

This follows an age-old formula for investing: minimize risk so as to maximize returns. As Sheila Morago, executive director of the Arizona Indian Gaming Association, suggested, “It's very important to diversify so all your eggs are not in the same basket." Diversification protects against an economic downturn, the renegotiation of tribal-state compacts, and an increasingly competitive tribal and non-tribal gaming market.