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www.HartfordBusiness.com • March 26, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 29 "That said, Connecticut will be our flagship for as long as we're around," Kontomerkos said. "Connecticut is really the blueprint for a lot of the develop- ment that we're looking to do overseas." Mohegan Sun's integrated en- tertainment-resort model, which includes a 10,000-seat arena vital to driving business to the Uncasville property, has proved successful, Kont- omerkos said. "We're sort of two major global hubs in two of the most attractive markets in the world that we are going to be focusing on developing further for the foreseeable future," Kontomerkos said of the Korean and Connecticut properties. Mohegan Sun Aside from Preston, Mohegan Sun is further diversifying with the open- ing of a roughly 125,000-square-foot expo center connected to the hotel- casino and Winter parking garage. The expansion, which also includes 32,000 square feet of additional meet- ing and ballroom space and 88,000 square feet of general and entertain- ment space, will allow MGE to attract larger conventions and trade shows, bolstering midweek meetings and convention business. Mohegan Sun says the expansion will give it more than 275,000 square feet of total function space. Kontomerkos expects the expo center to open in June for the huge Barrett-Jackson collector car auction. More conventions will improve midweek hotel occupancy and yield for rooms already exceeding 95 per- cent capacity year-round, he said. It's too soon to say whether more rooms will be needed to satisfy the addition- al convention business. Asked if the convention growth threatened to take business from Hartford, which some say it will, he said MGE has talked with several state authorities and some view it "as a big positive because what we want to do is create more mass to the state in terms of convention business," similar to Las Vegas with casinos. He expects the area where the expo center connects to the resort will spawn new development along a corridor to the casino, possibly new retail shops. East Windsor The former Showcase Cinemas site is being cleared for the $300 million project, which Kontomerkos believes will happen, despite a legislative proposal to allow other casino bids — opening the door for MGM's proposed Bridgeport casino — while allowing East Windsor to advance. The latter, though, still lacks formal federal ap- proval, which the tribes have sued to get. It aims to stem projected revenue and job losses from the planned open- ing of the $960 million MGM Spring- field hotel casino later this year. "There's a lot of noise out in the mar- ketplace to try to confuse people that the project's not moving forward, so the questions are completely understand- able, but that's not the case, the project's moving forward," he said, declining to provide a target opening date. Mohegan is doing everything it can to keep revenue and jobs in Connecti- cut, which could include incentivizing some employees to remain, he said. Asked if MGM was seeking to hire away Mohegan's experienced employ- ees, he said, "There's always that factor when there's a competitive opening." Kontomerkos also believes sports betting should be exclusive to the tribes if the U.S. Supreme Court this session allows the betting nationwide. "The state and the tribes have a very, very long exclusive partnership on almost all forms of gaming and we would think that falls into the same category," he said. In exchange for exclusive gaming rights in Connecticut, Mohegan Sun and Foxwoods pay the state 25 per- cent of their annual slots revenues. Kontomerkos envisions the tribes operating sports books similar to those seen in Nevada. Working with a rival The East Windsor joint venture with Foxwoods' operator has been a "won- derful partnership," Kontomerkos said when asked how the competitors will work together running the casino. Kontomerkos credited the tribes with carefully planning ahead, including a five-person managing board with an in- dependent director to break ties among the two directors from each tribe. "I don't think there's been any situa- tion to this point where a tie's needed to be broken," Kontomerkos said. Many operational decisions remain under discussion, but guests will be able to earn points in East Windsor and use them at either property, including possibly trading points, he said. Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment's Portfolio Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, CT Includes Connecticut Sun WNBA team and New England Black Wolves professional lacrosse team Mohegan Sun Pocono, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Inspire, Incheon, South Korea Planned casino and entertainment venue Resorts Casino Hotel, Atlantic City, NJ MGE has a 10 percent stake and manages the casino property Ilani, Ridgefield, WA MGE has an agreement with the Cowlitz Tribe to develop and manage the casino resort Paragon Casino Resort, Marksville, La. MGE provides gaming, hospitality and entertain- ment consulting services to the property Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment's Revenue Streams FY 2017 (in 000s) FY 2016 (in 000s) % Change Gaming $1,179,865 $1,166,886 1.1% Food and beverage $90,310 $88,923 1.6% Hotel $63,518 $52,561 20.8% Retail, entertainment and other $151,657 $123,017 23.3% Gross revenues $1,485,350 $1,431,387 3.8% Net Income $76,417 $133,077 -42.6% Source: Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority (Above) A map outlining Mohegan's Preston Riverwalk Project. (Below, left to right) Renderings of: Inspire resort in South Korea; convention center in Uncasville; East Windsor casino.