The Mohegan Sun is scheduled to host Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, and Adam Sandler in the next few weeks.
Patrons also will visit the casino resort in Uncasville, Connecticut, to play the Mohegan Sun Golf Course, pamper themselves at the Mandara Spa, or dine at one of more than 30 eateries, including the upscale Michael Jordan’s Steak House and a Chick-fil-A.
And, of course, there’s gaming, with nearly 4,000 slots, more than 300 table games and a poker room.
Then there’s Back of House, Mohegan’s self-produced reality series on YouTube that focuses on behind-the-scenes team members. The series is now a portal into the lives of team members at the Connecticut casino and resort.
“There are people on the property who are recognized,” says Mohegan Senior Vice President of Marketing Communications George Galinsky. “They’re like mini celebrities, because the show is shown 24/7 in hotel room. Jeff Hamilton, who’s our General Manager and President, always gets approached.”
Because of its location between Boston and New York, Mohegan Sun was frequently contacted by film production companies for use as backdrop for projects. There were so many requests that Mohegan thought a reality show might work. But Hollywood and Mohegan didn’t have the same vision for a series, and the casino company hired production studio Primal NY to create it independently.
Galinsky said there were numerous questions from upper management about Back of House before he received a green light to go forward.
“I’ve been trying to market this place for 30 years,” Galinsky says. “With this format, this is a way we can really show off the waterfall and the mountain made of marble and all these different epic pieces of architecture and also show off our guest-service-oriented and team member culture. It was really an opportunity to try to break through and let people understand they should expect a lot when they come here.”
One of Galinsky’s favorite episodes features now-retired Executive Pastry Chef Lynn Mansel holding a cake-baking competition. Mansel was up to the task taking center stage, but not all employees are good in the spotlight.
“You have to find people that are going to be comfortable on camera that are outgoing and bigger personalities and are a little more entertaining,” Galinsky says. Even though a lot of people watch just because it’s interesting, more so than entertaining. So, we have to consider what’s their personality is like.”
Mohegan conducted research indication that Back of House would appeal to younger viewers, primarily those in the 21-44 age bracket who frequent YouTube. But the resulting viewership figures have been surprising.
“We still get a lot of older viewers because it’s just the core following of our industry,” Galinsky says. “It’s a good balance. And definitely it was a good way to get in with the younger viewers.”
Mohegan Sun’s YouTube channel subscribers have grown dramatically since the launch of Back of House seven years ago. The resort can’t track how many people went from watching the videos to entering the casino.
But one thing that is measurable is the number of people who watch the series to then click on hotel’s booking engine.
“We can see how many hotel rooms have been reserved because of Back of House and how much revenue that generates,” Galinsky says. “Same thing for ticket sales. If they click through from the show to Ticketmaster, we can tell how many tickets we’re selling to concerts and what revenue that generated. We can tell that it’s definitely worth what we’re doing.”
