LAST WEEK ON THE RESERVATION

Last week on the Mohegan Reservation, three things happened. This story is about what happened.

The first thing is the story that came out in a local newspaper. The paper stated that about 50 workers of the Mohegan Tribal Government took the buy outs offered by the Mohegan government. The government workers were offered two (2) weeks pay for every year of service and the continuation of 90 days of health benefits.

Phil Cahill, C.O.O. (Chief Operating Officer of the Mohegan Tribal Government) indicated that the reductions would take place on February 2*, 2009. Cahill said, "A number of employees signed up and as we got closer to today's deadline we found there were some other positions we needed to eliminate. We talked to those people, and when we got done, it was all voluntary."

The workers remaining have already taken a roll back to their salaries as of the end of September 2008. The Tribal Council supposedly is taking a 8% pay cut. The Council of Elders are only reported to be taking a 2.8% pay cut (the roll back to September, 2008). Is this fair, considering that the management and the workers at the Mohegan Sun Casino took far greater cuts than either council. They should lead the workers in our (Mohegan Tribe) government and our casino workers by example. It seems in my opinion, that their attitude is do as I say not as I do. I think they should step up and do the right thing.

Secondly, on the reservation, the MTGA's (Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority) credit rating was lowered by Standard and Poor's from a B to BB. This placed the MTGA on a Credit Watch with a Negative Implications. Standard and Poor's is concerned about MTGA's weekening credit measures during a difficult operating environment, and the MTGA's ability to remain in compliance with it's financial covenants. Someone told me that a BB is junk bonds. This in my opinion is because of the economy but more importantly because of bad Business decisions by MTGA (Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, the Tribal Council).

Thirdly, the Mohegan Sun's revenues for December, 2008 were down 10.8%. Slot revenues were $188.1 million down 6.8% from the year before (December 2007). Table games were down 20.8% from the year before to $79.7 million. All revenues combined on both properties (the Mohegan Sun and the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs) was $326.8 million, a net loss of $3.8 million. All along I have been saying we are having losses from the year before, but the casino was still profitable, now this is the first net loss. This is a very desperate situation.

Mitchell Etess, Mohegan Sun Chief Operating Officer said, "Clearly, we're not pleased with the operating results. However, they must be viewed in light of the overall economic situation. Consumers don't know what lies ahead and are in fear of losing their jobs."

In my opinion, the MTGA is blaming the drop on more competition, namely Yonkers, New York Racino, Twin Rivers Casino in Rhode Island, and Foxwoods Resort Casino and MGM at Foxwoods. This is not an excuse, the MTGA knew this competition was coming and did not prepared for it.

The good news is that the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut is still getting 55% of the casino business in the State of Connecticut. The bad news is the pie is smaller. In other words if the pie last year was 10 inches now the pie is 8 inches. Fifty five (55%) percent of an eight (8) inch pie is a lot less than fifty five (55%) of a ten (10) inch pie.

That is basically a brief summary of what happened last week on the Mohegan Reservation in Uncasville, Connecticut. What do you think?