Mohegan Gaming Officially Wins Greek Casino License, Athens Resort Moving Forward

Posted on: October 15, 2020, 09:37h. 

Last updated on: October 15, 2020, 02:42h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.

Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE) has been selected by the Hellenic Gaming Commission to build an integrated resort casino in Athens, Greece.

The Greek government issued Mohegan Gaming a permit to build its massive integrated resort casino in Athens. (Image: AP)

MGE, the gaming unit of the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut, has partnered with Greek construction firm GEK TERNA. Their bid prevailed over one other submission, which came from another US-based tribe — Hard Rock and the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

INSPIRE Athens will be a more than $1 billion investment. The resort will feature a casino, luxury hotel, entertainment venues, convention center, retail shopping, and numerous restaurants.

Airport Overhaul?

Mohegan Gaming is building Greece’s first integrated resort on what was once the grounds of Hellinikon International Airport. The airport was replaced by Athens International in March of 2001 ahead of the 2004 Summer Olympics. The Hellinikon property became the Hellinikon Olympic Complex for the Summer Games.

INSPIRE Athens is just one component of the Hellinikon Project, an €8 billion ($9.4 billion) overhaul of the former airport and Olympic complex, which measures approximately 2.5 square miles.

Greek developer LAMDA is reimagining the area. Along with the casino resort, the Hellinikon Project includes numerous hotels, homes and condos, a marina, shopping district, office space, beach, and public park the size of New York City’s Central Park.

Dubbed a “Model City,” the project’s mission is to become a new point of reference for the City of Athens, and a premier destination for visitors and residents alike. The development is expected to bring more than 75,000 total jobs to the region.

Mohegan Going Global

It’s been many years since Mohegan Gaming only operated its Mohegan Sun casino resort in Uncasville, Connecticut. Today, MGE owns and/or operates casinos in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, Louisiana, and Canada.

Mohegan is also set to become the first tribe to ever operate a casino in Las Vegas. MGE will handle gaming operations on the 60,000-square-foot casino floor at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas when the resort opens in January.

And along with its entry in Greece, MGE is going overseas in South Korea. The company building an INSPIRE casino complex in Incheon.

“Business for us is a very long-term perspective. Our legacy is the Mohegan tribe,” Kontomerkos told Casino.org in July. “They’ve been here for over 400 years. They’re going to be here for another 400 years. We think about business in a very generational way.”