Largest US casino to reduce its slots and table games

"All brands have life cycles, and the reality is, I'm a very optimistic person," he said. "I think with all the challenges in today's market, and the competition, I think that Foxwoods can move in a positive direction again," Rappaport explained.

"My vision, our vision for this property, is to continue to do things that [first], drive more people to the property … and then the second thing is you want to make the property stickier," Rappaport said. By "stickier," he said he meant getting people to stay longer, all the time gambling, shopping, eating, seeing shows, drinking and, ideally, staying in hotels.

It’s a transition that CEO Felix Rappaport says probably should have started years earlier, held up perhaps by emotional attachments, and one that reflects a decline in the number of people gambling inside the cavernous Foxwoods Resort Casino on any given day.

Foxwoods enjoyed a monopoly on casino-style gambling in the region for years after it opened in 1992 and had 6,300 slot machines and 380 table games before the Great Recession introduced a decline in gambling revenue that has yet to be reversed.

Now, the embattled resort is positioning itself to endure competition that is expected only to intensify in coming years with as many as three casinos in Massachusetts. Foxwoods and its local rival, Mohegan Sun, already have been losing revenue to casinos in the New York City area and Rhode Island’s Twin Rivers Casino, which recently added table games.

At Mohegan Sun, Tribal Gaming Authority CEO Mitchell Etess said on a conference call with industry analysts last week that its gaming floor has shrunk but he does not anticipate more big cuts.

“I think we’ve really done a good job at getting the floor down to what’s manageable and what’s right and then scheduling it for the times when the people are here,” Etess said.

Rappaport, a Philadelphia native, was named CEO last week by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation. He joined Foxwoods in February and had been part of a management team focused on expanding the resort experience including new nightclubs, restaurants and an outlet mall expected to open in the spring.

He worked previously as president of the casinos Excalibur, New York-New York and Luxor in Las Vegas, where he saw each property have a “golden era” and then have to adapt and sometimes contract with changes in the marketplace. Rappaport said Foxwoods is evolving in the same way, adding attractions with the goal of stirring excitement and keeping visitors on the property for longer periods of time.

“The industry in general has become less gaming-centric,” he said. “I think in Foxwoods’ case we have exactly the same opportunities.” He said he expects Foxwoods will move toward earning 65 or 70 percent of its revenue from gambling – down from 80 percent – as it leans more on entertainment and other offerings.

The average stay for overnight visitors at Foxwoods is 1.4 days compared with 4 days in Las Vegas. Foxwoods, of course, is more of a regional destination than Las Vegas, with 40 percent of customers coming from Massachusetts, 20 percent from Rhode Island, 20 percent from Connecticut and the remainder from New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, Rappaport said.

Rappaport has 35 years of experience in gaming and hospitality that includes time managing marquee venues in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, N.J. Rappaport said he grew up "extremely poor" in Philadelphia. He and his brother were raised by a single mother who worked as a schoolteacher.

He worked at the American Red Cross for several years, managed an office with a small staff and spent some years teaching management. In 1980, he took a job in personnel services at the Brighton Hotel and Casino, later called the Sands Casino Hotel, in Atlantic City. That was the beginning of a long career, and positions of increasing responsibility, managing hotels and casinos from Pennsylvania to Nevada.

He is taking on the Connecticut casino at difficult time.

Month after month, both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun report lower slot revenues than they had during the same month a year earlier. It's a trend that has led to massive layoffs. Foxwoods reports having more than 5,000 workers, down from a peak of more than 13,000 from 2001 through 2004.

Rappaport said he hopes the trend of declining employment at Foxwoods will begin to be reversed when the new outlet mall opens in May. A new $120 million Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods is under construction, and is expected to employ more than 600 full- and part-time workers.

One key aspect of the Tanger Outlets, Rappaport said, is the investment by entities other than Foxwoods. The outlet mall is funded by Gordon Group Holdings and Tanger, and Foxwoods will benefit from the foot traffic. Shoppers can only get to the mall by entering through the casino.

"If you can get other people to invest in your property, not only is that a healthy thing, but it also gives [the venue] their expertise, their brand," Rappaport said.