GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 25 - June 2013

what doesn’t work. We want to see each one of these suppliers that made these prom- ises prove their theories on our property. To us, really, it’s a good selling point to legislators that not only do we have the technology, but we also have standards in place that require that they do these things. And once those people become comfortable, then it becomes a possibility for everyone in a free state. Q: When a casino like Foxwoods makes a move like this, people start thinking, “Something’s happening in Connecticut.” There’s no way that you make these sorts of business deci- sions without understanding what the political landscape is. What is the po- litical landscape for online gaming in Connecticut right now? PRACUKOWSKI: Regardless of what the political landscape in Connecticut is, we had to make an informed decision on cre- ating this partnership, sooner than later. What we didn’t want is if for something to happen in the state of Connecticut and not be prepared. So as to what the political landscape is in Connecticut today – it’s really unknown at the moment. There’s maybe some interest. But regardless of what the landscape is, our number-one goal is to open up our play-for-fun site, converge our online and offline players and get offline and online players to come and visit our beautiful fa- cility in the state of Connecticut. We feel that the B2C opportunity for Foxwoods is to reach out to a younger demo- graphic that’s not visiting the casino today through the social gaming and the play-for- fun games and offer themopportunities and benefits they can claimat Foxwoods.We can also take our patrons that are playing in our facility today and extend that gaming expe- rience online when they leave the facility. Q: Have you received a sense of interest or curiosity from the legislators or the governor’s office in Connecticut? COLEBUT: A year ago, the governor came out and expressed interest and didn’t get a good reception from the rest of the leg- islative body and so kind of dropped it. But here’s the issue, as I see it. People in Connecticut are already playing online, but they’re playing at offshore sites. You’ve got Massachusetts talking about regulating online gaming. They may even be moving a little faster than we are. Pennsylvania is talking about it. You’ve got New Jersey, who’s already passed leg- islation. So events are kind of driving this. I think you have to put in a larger con- text when you talk about Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun – the two drivers of Connecticut’s gaming industry. Connecticut’s gaming industry is under attack by outside forces and outside juris- dictions – New York – and Massachusetts comes on in the next three years or so. Pennsylvania impacts us, even though it’s a little farther away. Rhode Island, and New Hampshire now. We see our customer base shrinking. And we think that Internet gaming will help – at least give us a hedge against this new and added competition. Q: As you looked at developing the business, why did you want to include a B2B component? What was the thought process and strategy behind it? PRACUKOWSKI: We felt that the Foxwoods brand was very powerful within the U.S. as well as outside – more specifically, of course, in the Northeast. We’ve been open since 1992. That’s over 21 years. There are very few facilities across the United States in a Native American tribal site that have been open as long as we have. And we’ve been open longer than some of the commercial operators. We’re a well-respected brand in the marketplace. And we feel that we had to hold the same standards that we did to GameAccount. We feel that they meet those same standards in the online space. So it’s a perfect dovetail. The areas that we lack expertise in, GameAccount brings to the table, and the areas that they lack expertise in, Foxwoods brings to the table. SMURFIT: So the U.S. market’s going through the throes of regulation. And this is not a quick process at all. And I think the partnership has an extraordinary number of opportunities available to it over the medium term – defined as the next two to three to four to five years. COVER STORY The anatomy of a deal