Inspire Korea Casino Resort for Sale Following Mohegan Default
Posted on: May 19, 2025, 08:05h.
Last updated on: May 19, 2025, 09:25h.
- Inspire Entertainment Resort is on the market
- The South Korea casino resort is reserved for foreigners
- Bain Capital is shopping the $1.6 billion facility
Inspire Entertainment Resort, the largest foreigners-only casino in South Korea, has been listed for sale by the creditor that’s assumed control of the $1.6 billion hotel complex.
The Korea Times reports that Bain Capital, the Boston-based private equity giant, is seeking offers for the casino resort located at Incheon International Airport. In February, Bain took possession of the property envisioned, constructed, and opened by MGE Korea Limited, the Asian subsidiary of the Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut, after it defaulted on a $275 million loan that Bain issued for the resort to come to fruition.
In January, Mohegan warned it could default on its Korea Term Loan due to higher-than-anticipated operational costs, poor hotel bookings, and underwhelming table game revenue from its 150 live-dealer games. The casino additionally has 373 slot machines and a 176-seat electronic table game stadium.
Big Bet Busts
Inspire was Mohegan’s largest financial investment ever outside of Connecticut. It was also the company’s biggest failure.
Inspire opened in March 2024. The first phase, along with the casino, included a five-star hotel with 1,275 guestrooms, 11 restaurants, five lounges, the 15K-seat Inspire Arena, a shopping mall, an indoor water park, and an immersive indoor street enveloped in a high-resolution LED wrap.
Mohegan’s development contract with the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism included $3.4 billion in additional construction phases, with one being an indoor walkway to connect the casino hotel to the airport terminal. It would make Inspire the only casino in the world connected to an international airport.
Further development phases were to include a Paramount Studios theme park and an outdoor entertainment and exhibition center. With Bain now running Inspire, it’s unclear whether the South Korean government, which planned to use Inspire to grow tourism and make Incheon a global hub for entertainment and business, will be willing to scale back its demands for further investment.
“The license was granted to Inspire, so regardless of any changes in share ownership, Inspire is still obligated to meet certain conditions — such as making specific investments and constructing required facilities. We will continue to monitor how those terms are being upheld,” a ministry official told The Korea Times.
Mohegan said it lost 156.4 billion won (US$112.3 million) running Inspire in 2024. With Koreans banned from gambling at Inspire — Korea limits casino gaming for its citizens and residents to Kangwon Land, a remote resort on the grounds of a former coal mine — Bain’s takeover of Inspire calls into question whether a foreigners-only integrated resort casino can operate profitably relying solely on international travelers.
Mohegan Needs Cash
Mohegan’s big gamble on South Korea has financially strained the tribally owned company. Last week, Casino.org reported that Mohegan was shopping its long-owned WNBA franchise, the Connecticut Sun.
Mohegan brought the women’s pro hoops team to Connecticut in 2003 after paying the WNBA a $10 million fee. Sports business media outlet Sportico values the Sun at $80 million.
Mohegan wants to return its focus to US-based gaming and hospitality operations. The company hopes its next play is a casino resort on Manhattan’s East Side in a development with real estate firm Soloviev.
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