Will a Tribal Casino Ever Open in Las Vegas?

I was interested to see your answer about Native casinos in Nevada. I had no idea that there were any, not even Avi, which seems to be a big one (though in a pretty out-of-the-way corner of the state). But what about Vegas? Is there a possibility that a tribal casino could open there in the foreseeable future?

Yes, the Native Americans are coming. When the Virgin Hotel-Casino reopens after its transformation from the Hard Rock in late 2020, Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment will operate the casino for Miami-based Virgin Hotels, which owns the property. Mohegan will be the first tribal gaming company to manage a casino in Las Vegas.

Ironically, the Hard Rock was often incorrectly assumed to be a tribal casino, owned by the Seminole Indians of Florida. In fact, the Seminoles owned the Hard Rock Café out front on Harmon Avenue. The debaucheries at the HR’s Rehab pool party — as documented on TV — caused the Seminoles no end of dismay and they sued the hotel-casino for rights to its name, a point rendered moot by the rebranding of the Hard Rock as a Virgin property. (Peter Morton’s convoluted sale of the Hard Rock brand left the Seminoles with rights to it east of the Mississippi River and the HR holding the intellectual-property rights to the west, although they were rarely exercised.)

The Mohegan connection had been known for a while when the official announcement came three weeks ago, but it included something we didn't know: that Mohegan will oversee the redesign of the 60,000-square-foot casino space, along with other patron venues around the property. Virgin Hotels will operate the 1,500 guest rooms, which will be part of Hilton Hotel’s Curio Collection reservations and rewards systems.

Of course, Mohegan will have to be approved by Nevada gaming authorities, but that shouldn't be a problem; Las Vegas will be the latest Mohegan iron in the fire. MGE already runs Resorts Atlantic City, the oldest casino on the Boardwalk, and Pocono Downs in Pennsylvania. It's also developing a megaresort in South Korea called Inspire. Located near Incheon International Airport, it will be off-limits to Korean nationals, but will offer a casino, mall, indoor/outdoor adventure park with some 100,000 square feet of rides, and a 33,000-square-foot EcoAdventure Park that will include rock climbing — and that’s just phase one. The Mohegans are expected to make other international overtures, possibly including Japan, where the casino-selection process is taking shape.

The Mohegans aren't the only tribe on the move. The Seminoles bought, rebuilt, and reopened Trump Taj Mahal as Hard Rock Atlantic City (and are doing very well). Similarly, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, powered by income from their electronic-bingo houses in Alabama, plunked down the $1.3 billion that Sheldon Adelson was seeking for Sands Bethlehem. Newly renamed Wind Creek Bethlehem, it will probably continue to be one of the dominant casinos in Pennsylvania.

This is all just the leading edge of what promises to be a larger wave of tribal self-assertion in the casino industry.

Will a tribal casino ever open in Las Vegas?

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Comments

Dave Oct-07-2019

Yeah, but...

I think the point of the original question was overlooked. 

I think they really wanted to know about native to Nevada Native American casinos.

Kevin Lewis Oct-07-2019

Revenge at last

America's Indian tribes have figured out a great way to scalp the white man in return for all his historic injustices. A large part of their strategy has been to actually hold the US to the treaties it signed long ago. Now, they need to go to the Supreme Court and have the Fort Laramie treaty enforced--the one that acknowledged that the Plains Indian tribes were sovereign nations and they owned the lands where they lived.

[email protected] Oct-07-2019

AC

Interesting that the Hard Rock AC is doing so well given who owned and operated the mult-times failure that was on that location before.

Annie Oct-07-2019

good answer

Kevin Lewis 

"Revenge at last"

"America's Indian tribes have figured out a great way to scalp the white man in return for all his historic injustices."

+1
 
Anthony Curtis needs to put this guy on the payroll. I find myself scrolling down for Kevin Lewis replies before looking at the actual answer. (No offense to the excellent author(s) of the answers.)

Kevin Lewis Oct-07-2019

Thanks Annie

I appreciate it; some people approve of the things I say, but I should note, an equal number of people want to see me hanged, shot, drawn and quartered, then dissolved in acid.

Kevin Rough Oct-07-2019

I think you missed the point

A tribal casino is able to operate with permission of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and on its sovereign land, even though they may have an agreement with the state.  For example the Mohegans own two casinos: one in Connecticut which is tribal and one in Pennsylvania which is commercial.  The casino in PA does not operate Mohegan tribal land.  It has a Category 1 license from the PGCB, the BIA was not involved.

Question of the Day - 07 October 2019

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