Do the Mohegans at Virgin Casino Fall under State Regulations?

A couple of questions about Virgin Hotels Las Vegas. So Virgin runs the hotel part and the Mohegan Sun tribe runs the casino part? And if I understand, Native American-run casinos in other states do not have any kind of regulations they must adhere to. Is this true in Nevada, or is every casino no matter tribal or not under state gambling regulation rules?

Good question and the answer is, it's ... complicated.

Hilton Hotels manages the hotel, as part of its Curio collection.

Mohegan Gaming Entertainment is in charge of the casino (650 slots, 50 tables — small by Mohegan standards).

When the showroom reopens, it will be run by a third entity, AEG Worldwide.

As you can see, none of these are Virgin, which is lending its brand to the ownership consortium consisting of Virgin Group, Juniper Capital Partners, LiUNA, Fengate Asset Management, Dream, and Orlando Development; together, they paid a half-billion dollars to buy the Hard Rock.

A further complication: J.C. Hospitality, the managing partner of the consortium, is in charge of the entire property.

Actually, Virgin Hotels is also overseeing the hotel rooms with Hilton. Oh, and the eight restaurants have separate operators.

On the other side of the cohesion equation is that 1,300 of the property's 1,600 employees are returnees from the Hard Rock.

As for the Mohegans, they're not running Virgin as a tribal casino. Rather, they're operating under the umbrella of a publicly traded corporation, Mohegan Gaming Entertainment, which has been approved by Nevada regulators.

Veteran California casino regulator Richard Schuetz explains. “Several publications have mistakenly stated that the new Virgin property is a situation of tribal gaming coming to Las Vegas. That's nonsense. This is a Las Vegas casino that's operated by a tribe. As such, it's subject to the same regulatory scrutiny in Nevada by the Gaming Control Board as any other Las Vegas casino.

"So Virgin is treated identically by the state as any other casino not on tribal land in Nevada.

"The three actual tribal casinos in Nevada -- that is, those that legally exist on tribal lands -- are regulated by the relevant tribe, the National Indian Gaming Commission, and to some degree (as defined in the compact) by the state regulatory authority," Schuetz concludes. "Virgin is not one of them.”

No part of this answer may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.

Have a question that hasn't been answered? Email us with your suggestion.

Missed a Question of the Day?

Have a Question?

Tomorrow's Question

Has Clark County ever considered legalizing prostitution?

Comments

Jackie Apr-12-2021

Answer

First off Virgin does not run the hotel.

Secondly the Mohegan Sun Tribe does not run the casino.

Thirdly the National Indian Gaming Commission along with each States Indian Gaming Regulatory Commission regulates but each State steals money from a sovereign nation through illegal taxation. Wait a minute, didn't a bunch of terrorists dress up as Indians and throw a bunch of tea overboard into the Boston harbor for the same reason? Hmmm!

"So Virgin is treated identically by the state as any other casino not on tribal land in Nevada."
As far as I know Virgin doesn't own any casino in Nevada but they do own an online one in New Jersey.
But a corporation called Mohegan Gaming Entertainment has passed Nevada Gaming Commission scrutiny with flying colors to run the casino.

But hey, thanks for your QOD to get the facts straight instead of listening to barflys and news reporters.

Kevin Rough Apr-12-2021

Mohegans

Mohegan Gaming owns and operates the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino in Plains Twp., PA and has for over a decade.  It is regulated and licensed by the PGCB just like every other casino in Pennsylvania.  It is occasionally fined for breaking the rules which are strictly enforced in Pennsylvania.  It sounds like this casino will similarly licensed and operated, but not owned.

jay Apr-12-2021

1/2 a billion

500m seems like a steep price to pay to acquire an existing property that is not even on the strip. Not to mention all of the costs in rebranding and potentially upgrading the rooms. The (unlucky) Lucky Dragon got built from the ground up for 160m, and sold off for 36m, Ican bought the Foutaineblu for 160m but sold it off for 600m, albiet 3x the size of HardRock 

If they are using a consortium to manage the acquisition and operations are being farmed out, it makes you wonder how much is Sir. Richard pocketing for the use of the Virgin Moneker vs what is being pumped into the property.

Jerry Patey Apr-12-2021

Mohegan

Answer is no. They don't own land the casino sets on. They will prob get a management fee they neigoitiate. They are not entitled by law to anything else.

Question of the Day - 12 April 2021

Comments