From April through June, Mohegan Gaming broke all-time quarterly records: net revenue of $504m (£395.5/€461.6m), up 21.4% over 2023. The US-based firm recorded its previous quarterly high, $461.7m, in the first quarter.
During an 8 August earnings call, Mohegan Gaming president and CEO Ray Pineault attributed the increase to several factors. Among them: “profitable growth in digital, the ramp-up at Inspire … (and) the resilience of our flagship, Mohegan Sun.” He called them “important drivers for our growth in the present and future.”
The $1.4bn Mohegan Inspire South Korean integrated resort (IR) staged a soft opening in November 2023. And it was strong out of the gate. In the fiscal year that ended 31 March, it contributed $35.9m of a record $461.7m in net revenue for the tribal gaming company. It officially opened in March. CBRE analysts say the Incheon resort could achieve positive cash flow by early 2027.
Vegas in South Korea
Inspire’s location is favorable: an hour from downtown Seoul and 10 minutes from Incheon International Airport.
Attractions include:
Korea’s largest foreigners-only casino, with 374 slots, 150 table games and a 176-seat ETG stadium
Three hotel towers with 1,275 rooms
The 15,000-capacity Inspire Arena performance hall
Korea’s largest convention center
The Splash Bay water park
Aurora, a 150m immersive digital entertainment street
Called Korea’s first Vegas-calibre resort, Inspire is the eighth Mohegan Gaming property, and the first outside North America. It joins 17 other casino resorts in Korea, and is the first owned and operated by a foreign entity.
Great expectations
At the ribbon-cutting, Culture Minister Yu In-chon said Inspire goes “beyond the mere addition of a casino business site in the country. Instead, it is expected to represent a significant milestone in Korea’s culture and tourism industry.
It’s also a hedge against Japan, 90 minutes away by air, which will open its first integrated resort in 2030. Tourism professor Lee Hoon told the Korea Times Japan will be a more formidable competitor than Singapore or Macau. “Korea’s integrated resorts will likely be less attractive (to visitors),” he said.
Korea has set a goal to attract 20 million tourists this year, but needs new attractions, experts agree. According to the 2021 World Economic Forum report, the country ranked 15th on the Travel & Tourism Development Index. And while it placed 10th for cultural and entertainment tourism, it came in 79th in natural tourism resources.
With six years to go before MGM Osaka, Inspire has set a higher bar for the Korean IR industry. “As I look across our enterprise, I feel confident about how our strategy is taking shape,” said Pineault Thursday. “I’m excited about our near- and long-term prospects.”
In other highlights from the call:
Mohegan’s adjusted EBITDA for Q2 came to $104.7m, down 3.6% over the same quarter in 2023;
Mohegan Digital, encompassing iGaming and sports betting in Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Ontario, generated $41.9m, up 151.3% over last year; and
Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, posted net revenue of $235.7m, an increase of 2.2% over the same period in 2023
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Original article: https://igamingbusiness.com/casino/mohegan-inspire-q2-south-korea/
