Mario Kontomerkos to Step Down as MGE CEO, Interim Exec to Step In

Mario Kontomerkos will resign as CEO of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment on March 31. In the meantime, Ray Pineault will be inaugurated as interim chief executive.

Kontomerkos Resigns, Pineault Is Temporary CEO

Mario Kontomerkos will formally step down as chief executive from Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE) on March 31. He will be temporarily replaced by current COO Ray Pineault, who will serve as a temporary CEO as soon as he receives regulatory approval to accept the position. Kontomerkos has been part of MGE since September 2011, when he joined as a chief financial officer. Several years later, in October 2017, he was promoted to CEO.

Mohegan Tribe chairman James Gessner, Jr. thanked Kontomerkos for his years of service as a CFO and CEO at MGE, praising him for the work he put in for the company throughout the pandemic and for the growth and success MGE went through under his stint.

Pineault is preparing to step in as interim CEO of MGE. He has over 20 years of experience as the president and general manager of MGE’s flagship Mohegan Sun property in Connecticut, as well as a regional president at MGE.

Gessner expressed his excitement for the choice his company made, stating: “Ray has served his Tribe for over two decades in various roles and capacities, and we look forward to his continued guidance and experience as we search for a new corporate leader,”

In the meantime, MGE also announced that Carol Anderson would serve as its new chief financial officer to assist MGE in its strategy of growth and development.

Anderson comes from the Scientific Games, where she was senior treasury vice president, capital markets, and general counselor. Before that, Anderson worked as an associate for Latham & Watkins, Lehman Brothers, and Weil, Gotshal & Manges.

“Carol’s experience will be key in continuing to promote MGE as a worldwide industry leader in integrated resort entertainment and assisting to steer the organization through this next chapter of development and growth,” Gessner said.

MGE Ventures outside Connecticut

Mohegan partnered with Oshidori International Development Godogaisha. Together, the companies expressed interest in building the IR resort in the city of Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture on Kyushu Island in Japan.

This January, the Prefecture announced the potential involvement of 3 other undisclosed firms, which will raise the limit of candidates to seven, including Japan’s Current Corp., Casinos Austria International Holding GmbH, and Tokyo-listed Pixel Companyz Inc. The bid for Nagasaki Prefecture is scheduled to be in the summer and fall of 2021.

In the Mohegan statement of the partnership between MGE and Oshidori, the company also stated that MGE and Oshidori strive to create a world-class integrated resort and the preferred destination choice of travel.

Inspire Entertainment Resort at Incheon is another venture for Mohegan, but the business there took a hit because of the coronavirus pandemic. This setback resulted in the delay of construction for the Midan City resort, a Caesars Entertainment and Inspire Resort collaboration.