{"id":15215,"date":"2014-12-16T13:04:18","date_gmt":"2014-12-16T21:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=15215"},"modified":"2014-12-16T13:04:18","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T21:04:18","slug":"fixing-foxwoods-perryville","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/fixing-foxwoods-perryville\/","title":{"rendered":"Fixing Foxwoods, Perryville"},"content":{"rendered":"

Felix Rappaport<\/strong> continues to unveil a new strategy for Foxwoods Resort & Casino<\/strong>. Operations weren’t predecessor Scott Butera<\/strong>‘s strong suit, by the latter’s own profession.<\/p>\n

\"Rappaport\"<\/a>So, the restructuring having been done, enter Rappaport to commence the rebranding<\/a>. Of oncoming competition from Boston<\/strong>, Rappaport said, “We\u2019ll certainly lose some people altogether, and we\u2019ll lose some people in terms of frequency. But if we do our jobs properly, I think we can become even more compelling.\u201d And he’s got two or three years to entrench. Both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun<\/strong> are cutting back on slot inventory dramatically, prompting one pundit to say,\u00a0\u201cThey have, in a sense, already closed the equivalent of two casinos.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Mohegan Sun has been targeting nearly every new casino market that comes along and, closer to home, is ramping up its concert program, Foxwoods is being a bit choosier with its comeback strategy. Gambling is still, far and away, the cash cow, but Rappaport wants a “stickier” casino that entices visitors to stay longer (up from a 1.4 day\/guest average). But, aside from an in-progress outlet mall, Rappaport is short on specifics, telling the Boston Globe<\/em>,\u00a0\u201cWe are closing in on some deals that could add some \"Foxwoods_Casino\"<\/a>additional restaurant brands, possibly new entertainment options, possibly some new attractions, possibly some new nightlife options, possibly some new bars.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also sounds like he’s thinking about importing some lessons from the Las Vegas<\/strong> locals market to Ledyard<\/strong>:\u00a0\u201cObviously not everybody in America gambles and that\u2019s OK.\u00a0If they want to come here and shop and eat and drink and bowl, we\u2019ll be glad to accommodate them.\u201d<\/p>\n

This new business plan has its detractors, who include\u00a0publisher Frank Fantini<\/strong> (\u201cPeople don\u2019t go to the casino to go to the outlets.”) and who don’t see a Vegas-style business model working in New England<\/strong>. But nothing ventured, nothing gained — and anyway, when it comes to gambling, gambling and more gambling as a strategy, they’ve tried that one and it’s not working anymore.<\/p>\n

* Continuing the transformation of Hollywood Casino Perryville<\/strong> into a cozy, neighborhood hangout, Penn National Gaming<\/strong> has asked the State of Maryland<\/strong> to allow \"Penn<\/a>it to take its slot inventory down from 1,158 to 850<\/a>. This is the second big reduction in Hollywood Perryville’s slot inventory, 500 machines having been removed two years ago. Penn’s man in Perryville, Matt Heiskell<\/strong>, cited “comfort” as one reason for the latest change, as well as the desire to add new amenities. That still might not be sufficient reduction. According to the Washington Post<\/em>, “A study prepared for the commission ultimately puts Perryville\u2019s\u00a0optimal number of slot machines somewhere closer to 658.”\u00a0Although the state will be looking at $1.2 million less tax revenue, the\u00a0Maryland Lottery &\u00a0Gaming Control Commission<\/strong> favors Penn’s request.<\/p>\n

* If the\u00a0Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel<\/strong> live on a reservation, the Internet<\/strong> is a wide-open prairie. And for that reason, a temporary restraining order has been placed<\/a> on the tribe’s online bingo site. (The Santa Ysabel’s brick-and-mortar casino is defunct.) Santa Ysabel Interactive<\/strong> representative Cruz Bustamante reacted,\u00a0\u201cThis decision poses a significant threat to tribal jurisdiction over Class II gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act<\/strong>.\u00a0It declares one-touch bingo and proxy play of games to be illegal and turns a blind eye to federal laws and precedent permitting technological advancements to aid in the play of Class II bingo. These are very dangerous and significant pronouncements for Indian Country.\u201d<\/p>\n

We’ll see about that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Felix Rappaport continues to unveil a new strategy for Foxwoods Resort & Casino. Operations weren’t predecessor Scott Butera‘s strong suit, by the latter’s own profession. So, the restructuring having been done, enter Rappaport to commence the rebranding. Of oncoming competition … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[34,14,166,37,53,72,112,167,69,25,19,20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15215"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15215"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15217,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15215\/revisions\/15217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}