Mohegan Gaming awarded Athens casino license
Proposal calls for redevelopment of Greece’s former main airport into resort
Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment has been awarded a license to operate the first luxury casino resort in Greece.
The Greek government’s Hellenic Gaming Commission, which announced in January that it selected MGE to develop the resort in the capital city of Athens, recently awarded the company a casino operating license as part of a reported $9 billion redevelopment of the former Hellinikon airport in Athens, which served as Greece’s main airport until 2001.
MGE, Mohegan Sun’s parent company, and its partner, GEK Terna Group, a Greek conglomerate, beat out Hard Rock International, which is owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, to win the bid. Hard Rock appealed the decision, alleging a law firm that advised the Hellenic Gaming Commission also had represented a member of the Mohegan Tribe, but lost its appeal, paving the way for MGE to be awarded the casino license.
MGE and GEK Terna Group’s proposed project, dubbed Inspire Athens, would feature a luxury hotel, entertainment venues, a convention center and retail, dining and gambling spaces.
The resort is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of tourists, generate more than 7,000 jobs and “further solidify” Athens as one of Europe’s “most enticing and iconic destinations,” Mario Kontomerkos, Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment’s president and CEO, said in a statement.
“We recognize the importance of this transformative effort for Greece and are looking forward to leading the charge for one of the most ambitious development projects ever undertaken in the country,” he said.
The project would expand the list of international destinations where MGE wants to do business.
MGE is also developing a first- of- its- kind integrated resort at Incheon Airport in South Korea, named Inspire. This will be a $5 billion multiphase development, with a targeted opening in 2022. The integrated resort will be home to a three-tower luxury hotel as well as premier dining, shopping, gaming and an entertainment arena.
The company also is interested in building a facility in Japan, as well.