Foxwoods puts its name on Boston's House of Blues

Mashantucket - In another marketing move aimed at a youthful demographic, Foxwoods Resort Casino has signed on as a "presenting sponsor" for Boston's House of Blues, one of New England's leading live music venues.

Under the multiyear agreement, the Lansdowne Street location will be known as "House of Blues Boston Presented by Foxwoods Resort Casino." The Foxwoods brand will appear on the music hall's signage, including a billboard on the rear of the building facing the Massachusetts Turnpike. The venue's members-only Foundation Room will feature a Foxwoods Balcony and dedicated VIP seating.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

"One of our objectives has been to reach different kinds of customers," Robert Victoria, Foxwoods' senior vice president of consumer marketing, said this week. "All kinds of people go to the House of Blues. It's a great way to communicate with the Boston market."

The Foxwoods logo will appear in some 50 locations throughout the venue, including on a large mural in the main entrance, Victoria said.

House of Blues was acquired by Live Nation, the concert promoter, in 2006. In addition to the Boston site, which opened last fall, House of Blues has branded clubs in Atlantic City; Anaheim, Calif.; Chicago; Cleveland; Dallas; Houston; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; New Orleans; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Orlando and San Diego. Pollstar, a trade publication that covers the concert industry, ranked House of Blues Boston No. 1 on its list of "Top 100 Worldwide Club Venues" in 2009, with more than 300,000 tickets sold.

Foxwoods representatives symbolically sealed the deal Saturday night in a ceremony at House of Blues. Judith Bell, a Mashantucket Pequot tribal elder, presented a wampum necklace to Don Law, Live Nation New England president. The Mashantuckets own Foxwoods.

Mohegan Sun, Foxwoods' neighboring competition in southeastern Connecticut, had planned to partner with House of Blues in connection with Project Horizon, the Mohegan Sun expansion plan shelved in September 2008. A 39-story hotel proposed as part of the project was to include nearly 300 House of Blues-themed hotel rooms and a House of Blues Foundation Room.

The project also called for House of Blues to own and operate a music hall, a restaurant and a retail shop.

House of Blues had approached Mohegan Sun about being a presenting sponsor for House of Blues Boston, according to Mitchell Etess, Mohegan Sun's president and chief executive officer.

"We really didn't look at it as a very cost-effective way to expand our brand in Boston," Etess said. "Mohegan Sun, not the House of Blues, is the leader in entertainment in the Northeast. We would not affiliate our brand in that particular way."

Etess declined to discuss whether House of Blues might still be involved in the hotel project Mohegan Sun is seeking to revive.

Foxwoods' deal with House of Blues is also aimed at strengthening the casino's hold on its customers in Massachusetts, where lawmakers are expected to consider legalizing casinos this year. "We do want to maintain our loyalty there," Victoria said.

In recent months, Foxwoods' marketers have sought to connect with customers "across generations," partnering with Apple to introduce a branded iPhone application and establishing a social-media presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Foxwoods has partnered with Madison Square Garden to host broadcasts of New York Rangers games at "viewing parties" in MGM Grand at Foxwoods' Premier Ballroom. The first of two such parties this year was held last month.

"We're constantly looking for new ways to get our message out," Victoria said.