Casino beat

Foxwoods doubles down on gaming, betting on future leisure spending

Foxwoods Resort Casino, one of the world's largest, recently announced a series of improvements centered more around its profit center -- gaming -- than its food or live entertainment options.

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, with its sprawling 30-year-old gleaming Oz that transformed a quiet cedar swamp and forest, will spend another $85 million in upgrades that include a new casino in an old space, new high-limit slots, a 40-seat bar with slots attached and a few other enhancements to reverse the COVID-19 slowdowns and attract future crowds.

The highly leveraged resort also recently opened an expansive High Stakes Bingo Hall (which is how the resort got started) and a DraftKings sports betting and iGaming operation. So if gambling is the bread and butter of the massive operation, Foxwoods is baking up a storm.

It's not all about the gaming, of course. The resort, led by affable CEO and President Jason Guyot, is also making over its casual dining spot Golden Dragon, adding a celebrity chef restaurant next year, a Wahlburgers outlet (there's also one just outside MGM Springfield) and an indoor water park in partnership with Great Wolf Lodge in 2024. 

The water park and Wahlburgers may be aimed at families but the announced addition of a large Players' Lounge and the recent opening of the curious, top-location CardVault of sports memorabilia seem targeted to the well-to-do.                                                                 

Foxwoods had layoffs and closures in 2020 when the pandemic struck, and some functions went dark (Two Trees Inn among them) and never returned. Much of the $85 million will be spent on the new casino in the former Grand Ballroom on the main concourse of the Grand Pequot area.

The last time Foxwoods spent this much money on upgrades was the opening of the Fox Tower, which turned into a near-back breaker as the 2008 recession hit. In the following years, debt had to be restructured. Subsequent upgrades were less audacious but still eye-catching, such as the still-operating HighFlyer Zipline, Thrill Tower plunge (since removed) and Monza go-kart racing track.

Media (including this writer, left) at the jump-off point of the HighFlyer Zipline attraction a few years ago. 

Foxwoods remains a place of amazement, mostly for its sheer size but also its ability to offer a range of gaming and nongaming entertainment. In an oversaturated casino environment with recent gaming centers in Springfield and Encore Boston (not to mention lesser ones in Rhode Island), it's a tricky balance for the Mashantucket resort, located closer to those states than Mohegan Sun is.

It's not about overall size (Mohegan is also huge) but the quality of service and upkeep of the sprawling facilities that will tell the story going forward. Anyone can offer gambling these days. So folks will respond to the homey touches, attractive offerings, affordable options and star quality of the entertainment that convey the wow factor. Oh, and an occasional hit at the slots or table games.

    Caputo, downstairs from where the new casino will be built at Foxwoods.