Foxwoods Resort Casino has partnered with the CT Lottery to launch Connecticut’s first casino-branded scratch ticket.
The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation recently announced the new Foxwoods High Roller scratch ticket, which marks the first time the CT Lottery has partnered with either of the state’s tribal gaming operators. The High Roller’s launch coincides with Foxwoods’ 25th anniversary celebrations and offers hope that rival gaming sectors don’t always have to view each other as cannibalistic competitors engaged in a Darwinian fight for survival.
The High Roller offers players the chance to win instant prizes as well as top prizes of $125k, along with VIP overnight stays at the casino. Even losing tickets will soon be eligible for Second Chance drawings at the casino for the “Wonder Of It All’ Weekend Experience.
Foxwoods CEO Felix Rappaport said the cross-promotional tie-up with the CT Lottery brought together “two of the best gaming brands in the state” as part of the casino’s commitment to “providing our guests with innovative and fun ways to win in 2017 and beyond.”
Foxwoods is also likely looking to boost awareness of its brand in the wake of May’s slots figures, which saw revenue dip 1% to $38.1m despite handle rising 4.5% to $504m. While the decline is nominal, Foxwoods’ slots revenue has reported year-on-year declines in four of the five months so far in 2017. Slots revenue at the state’s other tribal casino, Mohegan Sun, was down 1.3% to $50.6m in May.
Both casinos will face more regional competition next year from the launch of MGM Resorts’ new $950m casino in Springfield, Massachusetts. Their solution was to team up on a joint venture casino project off tribal lands near East Windsor, just across the border from Springfield, in a bid to give outward bound gamblers more reasons to stick closer to home.
State legislators approved the East Windsor casino plan earlier this month and construction is expected to commence this fall, pending the federal government’s Department of the Interior formally signing off on the plan, the constitutionality of which MGM has vowed to fight in court.
