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Speller Gives Up Foxwoods Position

Posted on June 10th, 2010

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The Mashantucket Pequot Gaming Enterprises which owns Foxwoods, including MGM Grand at Foxwoods announced Monday that the President of Foxwoods Resort Casino, Michael Speller, stepped down from his top post “effective immediately.” The announcement was in the form of a memo to Foxwoods employees, and was signed by Robert Butler, chairman of the Mashantucket tribal council. Robert Victoria, the casino’s chief marketing officer and a close personal friend of Speller’s, said no reason was given of his resignation, and Speller did not talk formally with the casino staff before leaving, but Butler said Speller’s contract was “soon to expire.” The tribal council also said Speller left in order to seek “other career opportunities,” but Speller could not be contacted for comment.

Speller has handled the top job for 18 months and during his period in office he has always given importance to “five-star” service aimed at the sophisticated clientele of the casino. Foxwoods is in the middle of restructuring its debt with lenders as it faces a severe financial difficulty. Speller started working at the casino in 1992 after the facility opened.

He took the job as President of Foxwoods in December 2008, a few months after Foxwoods laid off hundreds of its employees and just after the opening of MGM Grand at Foxwoods, a venture that has caused more financial burden to the tribe. In the past 18 months, Foxwoods’ slot machine revenue has maintained its downward trend, and a big share of its slots market has been grabbed by a competing tribal casino, the Mohegan Sun.

As Foxwoods continued to experience revenue drops, casino officials, Speller included, had no other option but to negotiate the restructuring of its debt which the company acquired to finance the 6.7 million square-foot Foxwoods gambling resort, and which has built up over time to over $2 billion.

The tribe has been given extensions by lenders on unmet debt payments. Currently, the tribe has been holding talks with banks and bondholders about trimming down the amount it owes if it is able to pay before the deadline in July. During his term, Speller started in Foxwoods the “rolling chip” rewards system for players of baccarat, a marketing strategy widely used in casinos In Macau.

His close friend, Robert Victoria said Speller did a good job at Foxwoods and was a good leader. He said Speller’s presence at Foxwoods was a reassuring one during the casino’s difficult time. Meanwhile, the tribal council has assigned William Sherlock as acting president while casino officials and executives are looking for someone who can permanently take Speller’s place which could take months.

Sherlock previously served as president and chief executive officer of Foxwoods from 2000 until 2006 when he retired. He now serves as the chairman of the board of Nevada Gold, a casino company based in Houston. The CEO of Nevada Gold, Robert Sturges, said he is aware that Sherlock’s reign as president of Foxwoods would only be a matter of months.

Sherlock is presently a member of the board of Foxwoods Development Co., the tribe’s commercial gaming division. During his tenure at Foxwoods, Sherlock helped with the $300 million expansion and renovation, and in preparations for MGM Grand. Clyde Barrow, a gaming analyst and director of the Center for Policy Analysis at UMass Dartmouth said that it is a common occurrence in companies experiencing financial troubles for the CEO to step down.

He said revenues at Foxwoods have been declining and all the promotion and marketing that has been tried has not been successful. Butler, expressing his gratitude for Speller’s service to the company, thanked Speller for his “success in assembling an effective and cohesive management team.” Butler also recognized Speller’s efforts in guiding Foxwoods toward the right course.