On the brink of default, the Mashantucket Pequots are seeking to restructure $2.3 billion worth of debt, a senior adviser to the tribe said in interviews this week.
The debt is $1 billion more than the tribe's Foxwoods Resort Casino – North America's largest casino and once the world's most profitable – can sustain, the adviser said.
… [T]he prospect of a “destination” casino resort in the Bay State, where lawmakers could legalize casino gambling as soon as this fall, looms as the single greatest threat to Foxwoods, the senior adviser said.
The restructuring will apparently have no effect on Foxwoods operations … but a casino sure doesn't look like the golden goose anymore.
I suppose I should be glad that casinos are not recession-proof.
goldsteingonewild says
individual tribe members used to get $180,000 to $240,000 PER YEAR, now it’s been halved.
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p>is that for simply being a member of the tribe, or is that for being a MOT and having a full-time job at the casino?
eaboclipper says
I’ve been hoping for a Mic Mac casino in Maine. As an Acadian there is a strong possibilty that I got more than 1/16th Mic Mac in me. Can you say Payday!
stomv says
what dopey bank would lend money to the Tribe under conditions where the Tribe profits are taken before debt repayment. Just seems crazy to me.
justice4all says
Who the hell do they think they are? Sub-prime lenders or something?
shiltone says
…in a country that cuts marginal tax rates while facing historic deficits, and where banks commit to executive bonuses regardless of solvency, etc., etc.
lasthorseman says
for project Mass Exodus!
eaboclipper says
from the fact that they completed a major expansion (MGM Foxwoods) at exactly the wrong time. Without that expansion, I imagine their balance sheet would look significantly better.