Jason Guyot
5 QUESTIONS
Foxwoods , the casino resort owned and operated by the Mashantucket Pequot tribe , has had some interesting leaders over the years , not the least of whom is the current one , Jason Guyot . He ’ s the first member of the tribe to take the CEO position , as well as the youngest , and explains why that means so much to him and to other tribal members . Guyot talks about the recent expansion at the property , which always seems to be adding amenities . He spoke with GGB Publisher Roger Gros in the media room at Foxwoods in Connecticut in July . To hear a full version as a GGB Podcast , visit GGBMagazine . com .
1
GGB : You ’ re the youngest CEO ever to lead Foxwoods , but you ’ ve been here more than
20 years . Tell us how you saw the casino change over the years . Guyot : It ’ s been an amazing journey that we ’ ve had here at Foxwoods . I ’ ve been here going on 22 years now . The property from day one was obviously something special . Nothing like it had ever existed . And since that time we ’ ve evolved now to this fully integrated resort destination with over 9 million square feet . We have a little bit of something for everyone , and we ’ re continuing to grow and add new amenities . So it ’ s an extremely exciting time .
2
I was here when it was just a bingo hall run by Mickey Brown . He showed me the conduits in the floor where the slots would be even before they were approved . Was there ever a master plan how to develop this property ? No , there wasn ’ t one . We were just so busy . The expansions were done for speed but very well planned . Over the years there have been a lot of master plans . Some of them have worked well , some of them haven ’ t , but you have to have a plan going into any expansion . I think for us in this competitive environment , we really took a hard look , over the past seven or eight years , at what this landscape would look like — and then taking a look at what our advantages are . One of the obvious advantages is all of our square footage , both inside the property and surrounding the property — how to leverage that . And so we ’ ve really been focused on it . We ’ ve been very creative over the past few years , giving ourself an opportunity to add more meeting space with the Expo Center .
3
You ’ ve also added another casino recently , correct ?
We ’ ve added another casino in the heart of the property . We ’ ve also looked at bars and restaurants , and we ’ re trying to make sure that not only were we filling gaps in our programming , but we ’ re also filling gaps in programming throughout the region . We ’ re on the fourth or fifth phase of the master plan that was started back in 2020 . And we have some exciting things still to come .
4
One of the restaurants you added was Gordon Ramsay ’ s Hell ’ s Kitchen , which has been a success wherever it ’ s been . How did you convince Gordon Ramsay to come here ? It is an interesting story . When we were contemplating a development in the center of the property where the Woodlands Casino is now , there were a lot of discussions on what to do . I really wanted to get a well-known celebrity chef . And I really wanted to start at the top , and that that brings you to Gordon Ramsay . We brought the CEO of Gordon Ramsay North America out to the property in 2021 . And timing is everything . He had never been to the property , so I laid out the vision of how this Hell ’ s Kitchen would anchor that section of the property and really got a buy-in from him . One thing led to another opportunity where we were able to convince Gordon and the team to allow us the license agreement to open Hell ’ s Kitchen .
5
Jason Guyot
President & CEO , Foxwoods Casino Resort
And it got even more interesting , right ?
Yes , we just finished filming two seasons of the TV show Hell ’ s Kitchen , seasons 23 and 24 , in the studio here on property . We had to convince Fox that we were the right destination to do it . And it went unbelievably well , so I can ’ t wait for this to hit Fox in the fall . And it ’ s going be not only a celebration of Gordon ’ s hit show , but really a celebration of all we have to offer here at Foxwoods and in southeastern Connecticut .
“ They Said It ”
“ To describe the sharing of sports facts , schedules or discussion topics via tweets and posts on social media platforms as advertising and thus applicable to our code is an irresponsible misinterpretation .”
— Joe Maloney , senior vice president of strategic communications for the American Gaming Association ( AGA ), responding to a study from the University of Bristol that said the majority of U . S . bookmakers ’ social media posts violate the AGA ’ s advertising code .
CALENDAR
October 7-10 : Global Gaming Expo ( G2E ), The Venetian Expo , Las Vegas , Nevada . Produced by Reed Exhibitions . For more information , visit globalgamingexpo . com .
October 15-16 : European Gaming Congress , Hotel Polonia Palace , Warsaw , Poland . Produced by HIPTHER . For more information , visit hipther . com / events / egc .
October 29-31 : SBC Summit Latin America , Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino , Hollywood , Florida . Produced by SBC . For more information , visit sbcevents . com .
November 11-14 : SiGMA Europe , Mediterranean Maritime Hub , Xatt il-Mollijiet , Marsa , Malta . Produced by SiGMA Group . For more information , visit sigma . world / europe .
November 27-28 : Eastern European Gaming Summit , Inter Expo Center , Sofia , Bulgaria . Produced by the Association of Gaming Industry in Bulgaria . For more information , visit eegamingsummit . com .
November 27-28 : GAT Caribe Cancun , Cancun International Convention Center , Cancun , Mexico . Produced by 3A Producciones . For more information , visit 3aproducciones . com .
December 2-4 : Thai Entertainment Complex Summit , Bangkok Marriott Hotel The Surawongse , Bangkok , Thailand . Produced by Winna Media . For more information , visit winnamedia . com .
December 4 : Global Regulatory Awards , Grand Connaught Rooms , London , U . K . Produced by Vixio . For more information , visit gamblingcomplianceawards . com .
December 9-11 : Global Symposium on Racing , Loews Ventana Canyon Resort , Tucson , Arizona . Produced by the University of Arizona . For more information , visit rtip . arizona . edu .
12 Global Gaming Business OCTOBER 2024