Foxwoods Resort Casino is betting that its business is well on its way to being what it was before the pandemic.
What it is not ready to bet on ”” at least not yet ”” is just when that aim will be achieved.
“We remain optimistic,” Jason Guyot, who was named president and CEO of Foxwoods by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in March, told the Business Journal. “As we enter the summer, we see a lot of pent-up demand and with the vaccination rates, people are getting more comfortable with traveling around.”
The Covid era was “one of the most challenging times, if not the most challenging time, in the history of Foxwoods,” Guyot said of the nearly 30-year-old complex, which includes seven casinos, four hotels as well as restaurants, spas, retailers and a pair of theaters, among other amenities.
It lays claim to being the largest resort casino in North America, although the WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma includes the world”™s largest gaming space at 370,000 square feet, compared with Foxwoods”™ 344,000 square feet.
Some head-butting took place last year between the state and the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan tribes over when it would be safe to reopen. Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, which voluntarily closed on March 17, reopened on a limited basis on June 1 despite Gov. Ned Lamont expressing concern that it was “too early.”
“We reopened with a condensed footprint,” Guyot said, “and our number-one priority has always been based on the safety of our visitors and our workforce.”
When Foxwoods did reopen its doors, he said, it did so with bated breath. “It could have gone one of two ways. Very few people showed up, or we would see the result of pent-up demand. Fortunately it was the latter and we were very, very busy from June through September.”
Partly due to capacity restrictions, slot revenues were relatively weak during that period and took a dive from roughly late October through February, when coronavirus spikes were again the story.
Both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun are required to provide 25% of their slot revenues to Connecticut”™s General Fund. That figure was $14.2 million ”” $6.1 million from Foxwoods ”” in 2020, compared with a total of $263.6 million in 2019. But even that year”™s pre-pandemic total revealed a continuing downward trend; the state collected $433.6 million from slot revenue in 2006.
Foxwoods also reported a 31.6% decline in net revenue, from $787.8 million in 2019 to $539.2 million last year.
“It”™s been quite a ride,” Guyot said. “Business levels still haven”™t picked up to where they were pre-pandemic and we”™re still off on the revenue side.”
Still, there is hope. Foxwoods”™ April slots income was its highest since June 2020, with $11.1 million going to the state. Under terms of the Mashantucket Pequot”™s revenue-sharing agreement, Foxwoods must contribute $72 million to the general fund through the first 10 months of the fiscal year, which ends on June 30; it has made additional payments of $5.8 million so far to meet that requirement.
Thus the resolution of the long-debated question of whether to allow iGaming and sports betting at the tribal casinos couldn”™t have come at a better time. Lamont signed that bill on May 28. Before it becomes law, approval is needed from the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the U.S. Department of Interior to amend the state”™s compact with the tribes, something Guyot said was expected to take place “without issue.”
Connecticut could evolve into a market that generates more than $1.5 billion in annual sports wagers and more than $100 million in operator revenue, according to estimates by PlayCT, which analyzes and researches the state”™s regulated online gaming and sports betting market. Online casinos could generate as much as $350 million in gross gaming revenues annually, it estimates.
“We”™ve been working on this for 30 years,” Guyot said, “and we see it as a net win. And while there will be a lot of mobile betting in Connecticut, we believe there will also be a lot of action at brick-and-mortar. We”™ve looked at other jurisdictions and seen how online betting impacts resorts and casinos. With iGaming the concern is, ”˜Everyone”™s playing online,”™ but the fact is that it does not negatively affect revenues at brick-and-mortar.
“People are still looking for experiences, especially now when they want to get out,” he continued. “And we”™re not just a casino. We have 36 holes of championship golf, 47 dining options ”” there are so many different things to do.”
Entertainment rebound
That includes live acts at the 4,000-seat Premier Theater, formerly the Grand Theater, and the 1,400-seat Great Cedar Showroom, formerly the Fox Theater.
“We”™ve been feeling our way through that, along with everything else,” Guyot said. “Our team is working every day to find out who”™s available, are they still comfortable touring. Regulations change state-to-state, so it can be difficult to mount a tour. Right now we have to look at the financial models to see if you can even break even.”
More acts are starting to return to the road, he said. “At the end of June, we”™ll see a huge push.” He noted that Dave Chappelle is booked at the Premier for six shows, June 24 through 27, at full capacity. “We”™re still planning on observing masking and the other Covid protocols that are in place right now, but we”™re hoping that there will be more changes by then,” Guyot said.
Other acts scheduled through the end of the year include Jerry Seinfeld, John Legend, Tony Bennett, Pat Metheny and Nas.
Meanwhile, as is the case in many business sectors, Foxwoods is facing something of a workforce shortage. “There”™s some seasonality that plays into that,” Guyot said. “June is traditionally a softer month because of weddings, graduations and some kids still being in school. But by the end of the month the kids have the summer off.”
The facility is looking to hire more than 300 people, including full-time and part-time workers in a variety of departments, including hotel operations, food and beverage, security and accounting. Foxwoods increased its hourly minimum wage to $12.50 last year, with another $1 each year through 2022, and many of its frontline jobs already pay $15 an hour, he said.
In addition, team members will be offered a $200 referral bonus, payable after the new hire completes 90 days.
Plans also call for double overtime pay during the summer, Guyot said.
He acknowledged that, as has been the case at other businesses, “some people have decided that they can make more at home through unemployment benefits than they can working outside of the house. That”™s definitely hit us as well, but we are hiring and staffing up.”
Through Foxwoods”™ mega-vaccination clinic, it has administered over 50,000 vaccines since opening March 8. With over 70% of its staff vaccinated, Foxwoods is well on its way to leading the Northeast”™s economic recovery, Guyot said.
“A lot of people want a vacation this year, but they”™re still uncertain about whether they want to fly or not,” he said. “Staycations or regular driving vacations are beneficial to us, because we”™re less than 2½ hours from New York and two hours from Boston.
“We hope vaccination rates continue to rise,” Guyot said, “because that will be good for all of us.”
