Mohegan, the tribally owned gaming and entertainment company, expects to stop managing Mohegan Casino at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas by the end of the year, it announced Tuesday in a joint statement.

A commercial rather than tribal enterprise, the casino opened in March 2021 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the first Indian-run casino in the Las Vegas Strip corridor. Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, the former Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, housed the 60,000-square-foot Mohegan Casino, which featured 650 slot machines and more than 50 table games.

Mohegan and Virgin Hotels Las Vegas said they would enter “a planned transition period, following which an integrated gaming offering will commence at the property under the management of Cliff Atkinson, President at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas, subject to all regulatory approvals.”

“Following the transition period, Mohegan will cease to manage or lease the casino,” the companies said.

“Mohegan’s partnership with Virgin Hotels Las Vegas was, upon inception, and is today in the very best interest of the guests and hard-working team members whose patronage and contributions to the business are deeply appreciated,” Ray Pineault, Mohegan’s president and chief executive officer, said.

Mohegan announced in February it will stop managing Resorts Casino Hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., at the end of the year, while retaining a 10% ownership interest in Resorts. The company’s seven-year contract to manage the Cowlitz Indian Tribe’s ilani Resort Casino in Ridgefield, Wash., will expire in July.

― Brian Hallenbeck