SENATE Floor Leader Corina Magofna said she learned from the recent ASEAN Gaming Summit in Manila, which she and other lawmakers attended, that the casino industry may no longer be feasible in the CNMI.
She said different industry leaders and regulators at the summit told the CNMI lawmakers that “we do not have the population or foot traffic necessary to sustain the casino industry.”
As for online gaming, she said she was told that the CNMI doesn’t have the infrastructure to support it.
Magofna said the following recommendations were offered by the industry representatives and experts they met at the summit:
• Revoke the exclusive casino license.
• Issue multiple licenses for smaller scale gaming/entertainment. This will allow for healthy competition and an invitation for more investors to participate and invest in the local economy.
• Stricter regulations.
• Enforcement, enforcement, enforcement.
Hybrid
Magofna said the Manila Summit and the Indian Gaming Conference in San Diego confirmed the need to “pivot away from the casino industry and adopt a hybrid of Puerto Rico’s model and the Indian gaming concept.”
“We should focus on integrated resorts with gaming only as an amenity. And, using the Indian Gaming concept, the NMI people will become stakeholders/partners,” the senator said.
In San Diego, she said her objective was to meet with actual gaming operators to gain knowledge, perspective and understanding of their successes in the gaming industry.
The San Diego trip was very productive, she added, The conference was held at a convention center where she met Indian Gaming Association Chairman Ernest Stevens Jr. from Washington, D.C.
“It was a great honor to meet the chairman who oversees the entire Indian Gaming industry across the U.S.,” Magofna said, adding that they talked about CNMI gaming issues and how the Commonwealth can potentially use the Indian Gaming model to help stimulate the local economy.
Magofna said they also talked about how the CNMI can use the Indian Gaming model to benefit the local people by becoming stakeholders who will receive dividends directly from the revenues generated.
Stevens told her she can call him anytime and he will answer any questions she may have about the gaming industry, Magofna said.
Potential investors
While in San Diego, she said she also met with interested investors, including the Acme Investment Group “which is pretty familiar with what’s going on in the CNMI,” Magofna said. “They are very much interested in reviving our economy by participating in the gaming business, but in the form of entertainment or as an amenity that would be complementary to our tourism industry…. They are also very well connected with current and actual gaming operators from both the Indian and commercial gaming industry and have a very close relationship with the Marriott family.”
Overall, Magofna said the San Diego trip “yielded networking opportunities with legitimate investors and gaming operators, along with ideas that she will present to the Legislature’s Gaming committee members, the administration, and more importantly, our people, in hopes of garnering support and collaboration from all stakeholders so we can all move forward together and see how we can make this work for us in the most beneficial way, both socially and financially.”
In San Diego, Magofna met with Gary Green, chief financial officer of Acme Investment Group, co-founder of Economic Development Associates Inc. and chairman of Gary Green Gaming Inc.; Pamela Thilavanh, chief executive officer of Acme Investment Group; Johnny Winokur, director of gaming for three Indian casinos in Washington state; Jerry Floyd, general manager for casino operations of River Spirit Casino Resort; Tony Weng and William Zheng, Acme Investment Group; Brad Wilson, vice president for business development of Gary Green Gaming Inc.; his wife, Winnie Terrado Wilson; Monica Sanders Maciel, vice president for resort entertainment experience & client development of Gary Green Gaming Inc.; and Patrick Maciel, vice president for technology of Gary Green Gaming Inc.
From left, Gary Green, chief financial officer of Acme Investment Group, co-founder of Economic Development Associates Inc. and chairman of Gary Green Gaming Inc.; Pamela Thilavanh, chief executive officer of Acme Investment Group; Senate Floor Leader Corina L. Magofna; Johnny Winokur, director of gaming for three Native American casinos in Washington state; and Jerry Floyd, general manager of casino operations of River Spirit Casino Resort.
