Operator News
South Korea – Mohegan Gaming aiming for second quarter of 2023 for Inspire Korea debut
By Phil - 13 August 2021
Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment has pitched the second quarter of 2023 as the likely opening for its US$1.6bn Inspire Korea integrated resort which is being built close to Incheon International Airport near Seoul.
Speaking during an interview for Gaming Laboratories International’s Illuminating Conversations series, International President, Bobby Soper, said he was closing in on securing funding for the project.
“My goal is to close that transaction in the very near future, remobilise, get construction going and opening in 2023,” he advised adding the opening would ‘hopefully [take place] in the second quarter of 2023, or third quarter latest 2023.’
Having put up US$300m of its own, Mohegan is looking for a total of US$900m from Korean investors, as well as US$200m from Incheon International Airport Corp for infrastructure and US$200m from bank loans. Mohegan’s Vice President of Corporate Finance Chris Jones confirmed that construction of the first phase of the resort had ‘slowed down materially’ due to the effects of the global pandemic but that it was confident of finalising financing from ‘blue chip’ Korean companies.
Mr Soper said: “It’s been a rollercoaster, we’ve had our ups and downs, and COVID certainly threw a curve ball. But we’re in the ground, we have significant investment in the ground. We need to finalise some of the final financing and I just spent two and half months in Korea pursuing that. I think we are far along. It’s a tremendous opportunity,” he added. “It is gaming but let’s keep in mind greater Seoul is 28 million people. This is really the first truly integrated resort in the area. Paradise opened in Incheon too with a MICE, hotel focus, but we’re entertainment focused. That’s our brand.”
“There are 28 million people in the pop culture hub of Asia where there really is not an indoor arena in Greater Seoul. There are some stadiums but they are all suboptimal for live entertainment, and that’s the type of opportunity we’re looking at here,” he added. “A good part of our traffic will be driven locally through the Greater Seoul area but there is still great opportunity for the international gamer. Remember our tax rate is less than half of what it is in Macau, so when you bring all these amenities and you look at the potential from China and Japan, we feel really good about the opportunity on the non-gaming side and even on the gaming side.”
The first phase of Inspire Korea will include a five-star hotel with 1,256 rooms, a 15,000-seat arena, convention halls, and a foreigner-only casino, costing an investment cost of $1.29bn. The gaming floor will boast 150 table games and 700 slots. There will also be a hemispherical dome featuring over 48,000 sq. ft. of climate-controlled indoor pool space with rides, dining and retail. The second phase will include a Paramount Picture-branded theme park due to open in 2025. The fourth and final phase won’t open until 2031.
Fellow gaming entrepreneur GLI CEO James Maida hosted the episode, and the two explore the significance of a company’s culture, the importance of diversification, land-to-trust issues, the new Mohegan Sun Casino at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, the relationship between tribal gaming and Las Vegas, Mohegan’s expansion into the Far East, and Soper’s involvement in green solutions.
A key part of the discussion puts a spotlight on iGaming and the future of land-based gaming. Soper said, “We are all fooling ourselves if we don’t think that online gaming in any form, whether it’s lottery, sports wagering, or casino gaming as we know it, is going to continue to grow, and will, to some degree, cannibalise land-based gaming.”
