The Mohegan Tribe To Expand And Build A New Casino In South Korea

The Mohegan Tribe is looking to expand its international operations and open a new casino in South Korea. Officials from the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority have visited South Korea and kick started the process of setting up a deal with Korean authorities that would allow them to construct a mega casino near Seoul.

Korean newspapers reported that The Mohegan Tribe are looking to form a partnership with Grand Korea Leisure Corp, which is a subsidiary of the Korea Tourism Organization and construct a mega casino that is estimated to be around $1.8 billion on Yeongjong Island. If all goes well and there are no complications, the casino is expected to be completed before 2020.

The Grand Korea Leisure Corp has extensive operations in South Korea and currently operates over 12 casinos that specifically focus on tourists.

During the last 12 months, the gambling industry in South Korea has grown considerably as a large number of gamblers from Macau have decided to take their business to South Korea.

The anti-corruption crackdown in Macau has scared away a significant amount of gamblers who prefer not to attract the attention of Macau’s authorities. These gamblers have decided to visit neighbouring countries like Singapore, Malayaisa, Philippines and South Korea to gamble at these casinos where regulations are a lot more lenient.

South Korean gambling establishments have come up with exciting and innovative packages to attract Macau’s gamblers and their marketing techniques appear to be working very well.

The South Korean gambling industry has grown considerably during the last 18 months and industry analysts believe that the market in South Korean will continue to grown.

The Mohegan Tribe has tried to expand their operations in the United States by applying for casinos licenses in New York and Massachusetts but their applications have been rejected. These rejections have affected the tribe’s ability to expand and scale their operations and hence they have decided to expand their operations globally.

In a statement, Bobby Soper, the CEO for the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority said

We did make a visit to Korea and had discussions. What we discussed is confidential … It’s a bit preliminary. We’re looking at all opportunities outside the U.S but none that I can comment on at this time

The Mohegan Tribe is not the only US based establishment that is looking to establish a new casino in South Korea. Bloomberry Resorts Corp is currently looking for a South Korean partner as the company wants to set up a $1 billion dollar integrated casino complex in South Korea.