New Foxwoods CEO Felix Rappaport hopes that new tourist attractions will help the resort weather increased competition in the area.
New Foxwoods CEO Felix Rappaport says that the casino resort plans to cut right back a bit on its gambling focus and diversify its offerings is an endeavor to survive against an onslaught of the latest competitors in the spot. The idea is to offer more nightclubs and other attractions that may bring in new clients who are not necessarily drawn with a gaming-first resort.
‘We think we’ve too gaming that is much’ Rappaport stated plainly in an interview with the Associated Press.
Cutbacks Are Overdue, Rappaport Says
According to Rappaport, the move is one that the resort should probably are making years ago, when the quantity of people who were entering the Foxwoods casino to gamble each started to drop day. He is perhaps not planning to get rid of gaming by any means, or also severely curtail it; instead, it’s going to be considered a delicate proceed to make room to get more options at the resort.
Appropriate now, the southeastern Connecticut casino has about 5,800 slots and 350 table games spread out across several casinos on the property. Rappaport intends to eradicate some gaming areas to bring those true figures down to around 4,800 and 250, respectively.
Competition in Neighboring States Hurting Foxwoods
Rappaport’s plan is a response towards the competition that is growing around the northeastern united states of america. Along with the 2008 recession, new casinos in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island along with racinos in the New York City area have eroded the gamer base for Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, the two indigenous American casino resorts in Connecticut. Now, with more casinos coming to Massachusetts and ny within the next few years, Rappaport believes it really is time to discover a path that is new.
Rappaport was known as CEO of Foxwoods week that is last the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal country, which operates the resort. That statement came after he joined Foxwoods in February as an element of a group that was introduced to expand the resort’s nightlife, restaurants and retail offerings. Formerly, Rappaport served as the president at Excalibur, New York-New York, and Luxor in Las Vegas.
At those casinos, Rappaport saw that bringing in non-gaming attractions helped bring in new customers, something he thinks can happen at Foxwoods as well.
‘The industry in general has become less gaming centric,’ Rappaport said. ‘I think in Foxwoods’ instance we have actually precisely the exact same opportunities.’
Mohegan Sun Not Anticipating to Make Drastic Changes
Mohegan Sun, located just a few kilometers from Foxwoods, is dealing with many of equivalent pressures as its neighbor. But that resort’s Tribal Gaming Authority CEO Mitchell Etess says that they don’t be making any changes that are drastic what they have currently done.
‘I think we’ve really done a good job at getting the floor down to just what’s manageable and what’s right then scheduling it for the times when the folks are right here,’ Etess told analysts during a meeting call last week.
Foxwoods has made efforts to expand their brand name through the entire northeast as casino gambling has exploded within the region, but has not been successful therefore far. The company proposed a casino for Philadelphia that received a license in 2006, but the project never got from the ground, and the license was revoked in belated 2010. The company also attempted to compete for a casino that is boston-area Massachusetts, but ended up being rebuffed by voters in Milford.
Atlantic City Casinos Spark Bankruptcy Court Battles
Donald Trump is hoping become recoup cash he paid to your landlord of the driveway that resulted in the Trump that is former Plaza. (Image: NBCPhiladephia.com)
Atlantic City’s shut (and closing) casinos have reached the center of several interesting storylines currently happening in bankruptcy courts. From fights over driveways to questions regarding unpaid fees, bankruptcy judges are thinking about several situations that are different struggling resorts in the nj-new Jersey town.
In the first problem, real estate tycoon Donald Trump is hoping to recover funds he paid to the landlord of the driveway that lead up to what was the Trump Plaza casino, which closed in September that he says. Trump claims that he paid $147,000 to the landlord, despite the fact that the money was actually owed by Trump Entertainment Resorts, an organization he now only holds a ten percent stake in. He has now submitted a court filing to recover those funds.
Donald Wants Repayment from Trump Entertainment
According to Trump, who also delivered a letter to R&R Associates (the landlord regarding the driveway), he only agreed to pay the rent ‘in purchase to avoid litigation’ for the time being. He now believes he should be ‘reimbursed by the debtor,’ by which he means Trump Entertainment. The business did maybe not answer the claim.
It’s not the dispute that is only Trump and the company that still bears his name.
Trump and their daughter are currently Trump that is suing Entertainment an effort to remove the Trump name from their gambling enterprises. The Trump name has mostly been eliminated during the now-closed Plaza, but Trump Entertainment has refused to do the same at the Trump Taj Mahal. The Trumps say that the resorts have dropped into disrepair, violating an excellent contract and harming the Trump brand name.
Several Casino Tax Issues to be Decided
Meanwhile, there are additionally several tax issues that are being settled in court. On Tuesday, a Delaware bankruptcy court approved a deal between Trump Entertainment and Atlantic City that may let the city to put up a tax sale of the $24 million in unpaid taxes owed to them by the company. In a income tax sale, an investor can buy a lien against the business and agree to pay the taxes due. If the house owner pays off the taxes, the investor gets paid; if that doesn’t take place after two years, the investor has the right to foreclose on the house. The taxation purchase is scheduled to just take place on 11, just one day before the Taj Mahal may close december.
The former Revel Casino Hotel is also embroiled in tax issues. On the owners filed an appeal of a bankruptcy court order that would have allowed Atlantic City to hold a tax sale of their $32 million in unpaid property taxes monday. The town asked for an income tax sale following the $110 million purchase for the Revel by A canadian firm fell through. The arises from that sale were likely to be employed to pay off the back taxes.
Taj Mahal Wants Union to Drop Appeal
There has additionally been movement in the ongoing battle between the Trump Taj Mahal as well as the union workers who have appealed a bankruptcy court order that cancelled their health insurance. Trump Entertainment president Robert Griffin now says that while the company still plans to close the casino on December 12, these are typically prepared to commit to restoring health that is full benefits to users of regional 54 regarding the Unite-HERE casino workers union if the union will consent to drop their appeal.
The deal would include contributions to also a pension policy for workers. While they are perhaps not the actual only real issues the union had with the termination of these contract, the company is hoping that resolving the biggest complaints will lead the union to agree to accept the remainder court order.
London Hosts First Ever Bitcoin Gaming Conference
Bitcoin4iGaming: Topics up for conversation in London were the regulation that is potential of video gaming and the economic future of bitcoin. (igamingbusiness.com)
Bitcoin4iGaming, the entire world’s first ever bitcoin gaming conference, was held in London this week, as crypto-currency entrepreneurs and video gaming execs descended on Dexter House, a place, appropriately enough, situated beside the Royal that is former Mint. a range that is wide of were up for discussion, from the potential regulation of bitcoin gaming to the economic future of bitcoin and alternative currencies, as operators, investors and affiliates seized the chance to network and exchange a few ideas.
‘The Bitcoin4iGaming Conference is dedicated to the opportunities Bitcoin and other virtual currencies show the iGaming sector,’ explained organizers iGaming Business Magazine. ‘The event will bring the crypto-currency world and also the iGaming world together in purchase to eliminate friction in iGaming payment processing and popularizing the usage of crypto-currencies in digital transactions.’
Bitcoin Foundation Executive Director Jon Matonis was the opening keynote presenter and he talked about the benefits of utilizing currencies that are alternative the online gambling sector, from the cap ability to target customers all around the world, to the zero chargeback risks and the reduction of fraud.
Regulation for Bitcoin
There was clearly also a perspective that is regulatory offer from representatives of several online gambling licensing jurisdictions who talked about their efforts to acknowledge the part of bitcoin in the sector. The Isle of guy, in particular, has announced that its long-term ambition is always to build an environment that would allow bitcoin businesses to thrive and is looking at the risk of making a framework of regulation for the nascent currency.
Also among the speakers was entrepreneur Brock Pierce, a pioneer of the market for digital money and co-founder and managing partner of Crypto Currency Partners (CCP). an investor that is prolific has led more than 30 acquisitions throughout their career, Pierce is a much sought-after commentator in the Bitcoin economy and sits regarding the Board of this Bitcoin Foundation.
Breakout Gaming Fails to Break Out
In related news, Breakout Gaming, the first gambling website to make use of its very very own crypto-currency, the Breakout Coin (BRO), has reported disappointing initial fundraising efforts. The company held a ‘crowdsale’ fundraising effort which ended this week, where it offered up 4 million BRO’s for sale within an ‘Initial Coin Offering,’ using the value of 1 bitcoin add up to 6,000 BRO. Breakout Gaming raised simply 387 bitcoin (presently equal to around $136,000), falling well quick of its 1,000 bitcoin objective.
Breakout Gaming is just a bid that is bold bring alt-currency video gaming up to a mainstream market. Announced in September with a string ladbrokes casino no deposit bonus codes of celebrity poker player ambassadors in tow, including Johnny Chan, Huck Seed, Jennifer Harman and Ted Forrest, the company is pursuing a license from the jurisdiction of Kahnawake and, on launch, will offer poker and casino gaming and fantasy sports. In addition to BRO, customers will be in a position to use bitcoin and regular currencies to play.
Gian Perroni, head of advertising at Breakout, place the disappointing results down to bad timing. ‘When we first launched our crowdsale bitcoin was in a fall that is free which cast a chill with potential purchasers, not just for our project but for the crypto community in basic,’ he stated.