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On opening day Connecticut’s casinos draw modest number of visitors as Lamont warns ‘don’t gamble with your health’

Hartford Courant - 6/2/2020

Foxwoods Resort Casino reported 3,000 visitors by mid-afternoon Monday and Mohegan Sun said a “reasonable number” of guests visited on opening day that ended a financially ruinous 11-week shutdown brought on by the coronavirus.

Gov. Ned Lamont, who opposed the openings and instead said the casinos should resume business later this summer to give more time to fight the coronavirus, said he authorized state highway alerts intended to drive away older visitors more susceptible to infections transmitted in crowds.

“Over 65, don’t gamble with your health,” he said of the electronic signs. “It’s not just your health. It’s the health of everybody you live with as well.”

“We tried to put some good, strong advice in place as people are on their way taking a gamble,” the governor said at his daily briefing.

The Mohegans and Mashantucket Pequots, whose tribal nations are sovereign and beyond the jurisdiction of state regulations related to the reopenings, scaled back the casino operations to make it harder for the virus to spread. The casinos do not include concerts or entertainment, poker rooms and call for restaurant take-out only and smaller capacity to enforce social distancing.

Mohegan Sun said it did not have a number to report on visitors.

"However, we are excited to see a reasonable number of guests enjoy the property again while practicing the physical distancing measures that we have implemented and also adhering to the gaming floor limits and other safety protocols that are in place for everyone’s safety,” said Jeff Hamilton, president and general manager.

The number of visitors are modest, but represent a first step back from the first shutdown in the casinos’ history that caused a financial free-fall and high unemployment in southeastern Connecticut as workers were laid off or furloughed.

The Mashantucket Pequots, who own Foxwoods, say the tribe has hosted more than 330 million visitors since the casino opened in 1992, or an average of more than 32,000 a day. In the year that ended June 30, 2019, Foxwoods posted $443 million in revenue.

In April, the most recent month the casinos reported financial information, revenue at Foxwoods was zero.

Mohegan Sun last year posted revenue of nearly $568 million.

The closings also had a tremendous impact on the region’s economy. Nearly 36,000 jobs in the Norwich-New London labor market were lost as of April, a drop of 27.6% in a year, the steepest in Connecticut, according to the state Department of Labor.

Like their reduced operations, rehiring at the casinos will be spare. Mohegan Sun plans to bring back 1,500 employees, about one-third of its workforce, and Foxwoods will bring on 2,500, or 50% of its employees.

Stephen Singer can be reached at ssinger@courant.com.

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