In what is turning out to be a bad year for Connecticut Native American tribes’ attempts to build casinos outside the Nutmeg State, the Mohegan Tribe of Uncasville was passed over Wednesday for a license in the Catskills region of New York.
The New York Gaming Commission’s Gaming Facility Location Board announced it would award the sole license for the Catskills region to the Empire Resorts planned Montreign Resort Casino development in Thompson, N.Y., the same location that the Mohegan Tribe wanted to build the Mohegan Sun at The Concord resort casino.
“We are disappointed that the Facilities Location Board has chosen to overlook Mohegan Sun’s long track record of success in the Northeast, high level of brand recognition, unique outward-facing business model, and speed-to-market advantage among the bidders for a casino license,” said Mitchell Etess, CEO of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, in a press release statement.
The Mohegan and Empire applications were two of nine for the license in that region. The Gaming Commission also recommended licenses to two other applicants in different regions: one in Schenectady and the other in Tyre.
“Most of all, we’re disappointed that we have not been recommended to play a role in an endeavor so close to our hearts: the revitalization of the Catskills and returning jobs and economic growth to this historic region of New York,” said Etess, who grew up in the Catskills. “While today’s decision was certainly disappointing, Mohegan Sun Connecticut continues to be the best and highest-grossing resort casino in the Western Hemisphere, and we will continue to pursue these types of opportunities as they arise.”
The Mohegan Tribe fought for several years to gain a license to operate a casino in Massachusetts, on top of its locations in Uncasville, Pennsylvania, and Atlantic City, N.J. The original effort to put a casino in Palmer, Mass. was defeated by a local ballot initiative in 2013, and in September, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission denied Mohegan’s attempt to put a casino in Revere, Mass., in favor of one proposed by gaming developer Steve Wynn in Everett.
The Mashantucket Pequot tribe, which runs the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, also failed to get a Massachusetts license in Milford. The tribe since has set its sights on a location in Fall River. Foxwoods also once held a license to operate a casino in Philadelphia, but that was revoked in 2010 after the tribe did not move forward with its construction.
