MGE appoints COO and general counsel

Friday 5th of October 2018

Tribal casino operator Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment (MGE) has announced the appointment of Michael Silberling as SVP & COO and Tom Smock as SVP and general counsel of the company, rounding out the core executive leadership team MGE has been developing over the last 12 months.

MGE said the latest appointments positions the company for success in achieving the long-term goal of becoming a worldwide industry leader in integrated entertainment resort development and management. Both Silberling and Smock will officially begin to apply their expertise in early October as MGE enters a new fiscal year.

"The background and experience Michael Silberling and Tom Smock bring to their new roles is directly aligned with Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment's goal to become the premier global gaming and entertainment resort developer and operator," said Mario Kontomerkos, chief executive officer of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment - who was appointed in September 2017. "With the impressive strength of MGE's new C-suite executives, I am confident that we have assembled one of the best management teams in the industry, and with these key leadership positions now filled, we are shifting forward to aggressively and innovatively grow our product offering and our organization in both domestic and international markets."

MGE will officially introduce Michael Silberling to the executive team on October 8.

Silberling brings over 30 years of experience in leading all facets of multiple global integrated resorts across the U.S. and internationally. Prior to joining MGE, Silberling served as CEO for Affinity Gaming, where he led a business turnaround which created significant guest service and operating margin improvements. Prior to that, Silberling was President of International Operations for Caesars Entertainment and Managing Director for London Clubs International, where he oversaw 15 casinos across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

As the new SVP and General Counsel of MGE, Tom Smock officially joined the company on October 1 to lead MGE's legal and compliance functions. Smock brings more than 20 years of experience as an executive and in-house General Counsel at various casino gaming companies such as Aristocrat Technologies and Penn National Gaming, with significant experience in Macau, China and South America. Prior to MGE, Smock was SVP and General Counsel & Compliance Chair for all of the Las Vegas Sands Asian-based companies, where he was instrumental in the development and opening of the region's first foreign-owned casino, Sands Macau, and also supported the development of the Venetian Macau and the internationally known Cotai Strip.

In June, MGE appointed Drew Kelley, to its CFO position. Kelly was previously the CFO and interim CEO of ARC Group Worldwide Inc., a publicly traded manufacturer of precision metallurgic products and advanced 3D printing. Before that, he spent more than a decade working in investment banking and equity research with Wall Street firms, including Merrill Lynch & Co.; Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and Jefferies LLC.

MGE owns and operates its flagship casino, Mohegan Sun in Wilkes-Barre, Pa, and manages a number of casino resorts throughout the U.S. It is also the operator of project Inspire, a first-of-its-kind, multi-billion dollar integrated resort and casino project to be built at Incheon International Airport in South Korea.

The company has also been eyeing opportunities to build an integrated casino resort in Japan, having recently participated at the Japan Gaming Congress.