NEWS & NOTES

Sands China Ltd.’s Sands Cotai Central resort, now being redeveloped as the Londoner Macao, is adding almost 100,000 square feet of retail space and more than 25 stores including an Apple Store. The US$700 million rebrand, which began this year, will take about “18 to 24 months” to be complete, said Sheldon Adelson, chairman and CEO of the U.S. operator. ● Caesars Entertainment Corp. is bringing some star power to its bid for a Japan casino license. It recruited resident performer Celine Dion to Japan to stage a two-hour performance at the Tokyo Dome. The United States gaming company says Tuesday’s concert was a sell-out. ● Marina Bay Sands will partner with the Tao Group to open Asia’s first Marquee Club in 2019. The sprawling nightclub will span three floors with 70-foot high ceilings and include a Ferris wheel. ● The pier at the floating Casino Macau Palace near the Outer Harbor Macau Ferry Terminal is currently being demolished. The area will revert to the Macau SAR government after it’s cleared. ● Las Vegas Sands Corp. is the latest gaming operator to support Osaka’s bid to host the 2025 World Expo. Last October, Melco Resorts & Entertainment became the first operator to do so, followed by MGM, Hard Rock, and Caesars. All the U.S.-based firms are banking on getting an integrated resort license in Japan. ●   The Association of Gaming Equipment Manufacturers and the American Gaming Association presented the National Council for Responsible Gaming with a check for $228,000, raised by the 20th annual AGEM/AGA Golf Classic Presented by JCM Global. The golf classic, held at the Shadow Creek golf course in North Las Vegas, has raised nearly $2 million over the years to advance NCRG research on problem gambling. • Foxwoods Resort Casino has gone live with a live roulette-casino product aimed at Europe, although it won’t accept actual bets. It is advertisement right now because the exact legality of online gaming is up in the air in Connecticut. The livestream will originate in the Newport VIP room. Foxwoods Executive Director of Online Gaming Seth Young commented, “It’s a great way for us to proliferate our brand internationally. It opens up tourism opportunities for the property. If a customer in Europe or wherever is engaging without table games, perhaps they’ll decide they’d like to visit and experience the property itself.” • The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation has broken ground on a $120 million casino, near Phoenix, Arizona. It will include high end dining, a sports bar and a stage. The tribe opened a high stakes bingo hall 30 years ago. Now it hosts slot machines, bingo and table games. Once the new casino opens in 2020, the old facility will be repurposed. • The $160 million expansion of the Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma, will be unveiled in late August by the Osage Nation. The new 247,000 square foot gaming floor will have 1,500 slots and 16 gaming tables. The 141-room hotel will have event space, a 4,000 SF brewery, a pool, and 6,000 SF outdoor event center. The tribe plans to hire 200 new employees. The nation has a total of seven casinos. • Britney Spears has reportedly agreed to a $500,000-per-show guarantee in her upcoming two-year residency at Park Theater at The Park MGM on the Las Vegas Strip. The 36-year-old pop diva is coming off a four-year Strip run at Planet Hollywood’s Axis theater (now Zappos Theater) in which she grossed close to $138 million. Her final performance there on New Year’s Eve grossed $1,172,200, a record for the venue and the highest reported take ever for a single show in a theater residency in Las Vegas. • The Siegel Group has sold the Resort on Mount Charleston to North Carolina hoteliers Colin and Deanna Crossman. The 64-room hotel, located about 40 miles northwest of Las Vegas, went for $4.8 million. The Crossmans said they’re planning upgrades to the rooms and food and beverage product and will rename it The Retreat on Charleston Peak. • Las Vegas chef Johnny Church has been named corporate executive chef for Golden Entertainment. Las Vegas-based Golden, Nevada’s largest operator of gaming taverns, owns the Stratosphere, Las Vegas’ Arizona Charlie’s casinos and the Aquarius casino in Laughlin, Nevada.