The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority plans to develop a casino
resort connected to South Korea's Incheon International Airport,
marking the American Indian tribe's first international
expansion.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed Tuesday in South
Korea, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority--the gambling
development arm of the federally recognized Mohegan Indian
tribe--would work with Las Vegas-based Miura Holdings to develop a
roughly 800-acre parcel owned by the Incheon International Airport
Corp.
The project, which aims to capitalize on weakness in China's
semiautonomous gambling hub of Macau, would include a private jet
terminal, a two-tower luxury hotel complex with a combined 1,000
rooms, and a 18,500-square-meter casino with 250 tables and 1,500
slot machines along with a similarly sized indoor/outdoor amusement
park, an entertainment area, a film studio and retail space. Chief
Executive Mitchell Etess said an area would be dedicated to
showcase Mohegan history and culture.
Macau, the world's largest casino hub with about $44 billion in
gambling revenue in 2014, has been hurt by tighter government
regulations along with a corruption crackdown and weakening economy
on the mainland.
Since June, when Macau reported the first year-over-year monthly
decline in overall gambling revenue since 2009, gross revenue has
declined every month, ending the year down 2.6% from 2013. Gambling
revenue shrank another 37% for the first three months of the year,
according to Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.
The Incheon area, a government-designated development zone, has
been the focus of a series of casino proposals aimed at foreigners,
including a joint venture by Caesars Entertainment Corp.
Under South Korean law, Korean nationals currently can only
enter state-run Kangwon Land Casino.
Incheon, South Korea's largest airport and main airport serving
the Seoul capital area, is building a second passenger terminal as
part of an expansion plan that aims to increase its capacity to
about 62 million passengers by 2017.
The owner of Mohegan Sun, which accounts for the bulk of its
revenue, has been expanding beyond southern New England amid
increased competition. It operates casinos in Pennsylvania and New
Jersey and is developing another in Washington state with the
Cowlitz tribe.
Mohegan, which last year lost out on two casino licenses in
Massachusetts and Pennsylvania, is also seeking to develop three
off-reservation casinos with the Mashantucket Pequots, owners of
Foxwoods Resort Casino. A bill authorizing the casinos is pending
in the Connecticut General Assembly. The state of Connecticut
estimates the opening of a casino in Massachusetts in 2017 would
cost Connecticut about $63.5 million in lost revenue in fiscal year
2018.
Kate O'Keeffe contributed to this article
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
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