A legislative attempt to add three Mashantucket Pequot/Mohegan tribal casinos in Connecticut is running into a buzz saw of legal problems … or at least questions. Since the 
casinos are gift-wrapped for the tribes in question, state Attorney General George Jepsen (left) warns that they could violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Jepsen was seconded by the Legislature’s Office of Legislative Research, which found problems with the bill within the Connecticut constitution also. According to The Associated Press, “In a recently released analysis of the bill, the office said a provision in Connecticut’s constitution stating ‘no man or set of men are entitled to exclusive public emoluments or privileges from the community’ has been referenced by the Connecticut Supreme Court when it invalidated state laws that grant privileges to individuals when there isn’t a valid public purpose.”
Saying that a casino has “a valid public purpose” beyond entertainment may be rather a stretch. Besides, there are other parties in the state — like the Schaghticoke of Kent — who want gaming-enabled status and wouldn’t look favorably upon an extension of the Pequot/Mohegan duopoly. They’d take comfort from the Office of Legislative Research’s conclusion that “the Connecticut Antitrust Act prohibits any contract or conspiracy to monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, a part of trade … the bill could conceivably be construed to have anticompetitive effects in violation of this law.”
Expansion proponents seem to have been caught off guard by the flurry of constitutional objections. The best that Rep. Stephen Dargan (D, right) could do by way of a response was to say that the bill under consideration’s purpose was to “throw something out there, at least to have a conversation.” It remains to be seen whether that flippant attitude will prevail in Hartford. A bill rather light on specifics (like revenue sharing) passed out of committee, despite attempts by Republicans to curb the number of new casinos — which could be sited in existed OTB parlors — to one and to require host-community referendums.
You have to hand it to Mohegan Sun CEO Mitchell Etess: He’s got brass balls. Mohegan Sun may have financial problems on the home front but that’s not stopping him from pitching a $5 billion megaresort, proposed for an 800-acre site at Incheon International Airport Corp. According to the Wall Street Journal, the grand scheme calls for “a private jet terminal, a two-
tower luxury hotel complex with a combined 1,000 rooms, and a 18,500-square-meter casino with 250 tables and 1,500 slot machines along with a similarly sized indoor/outdoor amusement park, an entertainment area, a film studio and retail space.” Whales “can get on a private jet, land, and check right into the hotel. It’d be perfect for James Bond,” enthuses Etess.
According to a more recent report in the Boston Globe, the budget for the space-age-looking resort is a more-doable $1.6 billion. Admission would be restricted to foreign nationals. Flash a South Korean passport and you’re outta there, unless you want to visit the planned museum of Native American culture. “I don’t know why the Koreans would give the only big resort casino to an American company,” muses UNLV‘s Bill Thompson (left), who also warns 
that Peking could clamp down on travel to South Korea as easily as it is doing to Macao right now. The Central Committee wasn’t born yesterday. The casino “will have a geographical advantage in that it can target the 400 million Northeast Asians who live in cities three hours’ flight away from Yeongjongdo,” said airport CEO Park Wan-su.
Others characterize the move as a Hail Mary pass, a last grasp at the brass ring before Massachusetts casinos start cutting into the Mohegans’ business. However, they must first take care of little niceties such as obtaining a Korean casino license and ink a deal with the airport corporation. At present they only have a memo of understanding which outlines project specifics like a “Korean cosmetics and beauty hub,” as well as space for 60 retailers and 20 restaurants.
Also vying for one of two new licenses are Chinese and Filipino operators, while in-progress casinos by Sega Sammy Holdings and by Caesars Entertainment promise to provide the Mohegans with competition. Whatever you think of the latter’s chances, they’re in no hurry, giving themselves until 2040 to finish the project. That’s a generous timeline by any yardstick.
* Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun aren’t the only casinos trying to creep up onto the Massachusetts border. Twin River Management Group, owner of two Rhode Island casinos already, wants to buy acreage in Tiverton and build a 1,000-slot, 30-table casino there, a low-profile “convenience casino.” It’s a proposal that will be at the mercy of the voters and it requires taking the Newport Grand license and transplanting it to Tiverton. Lottery revenues are expected to go from $376 million a year to $276 million once Penn National Gaming opens Plainridge Racecourse this June, lending a certain urgency to Twin River’s proposal.
