Yet another sports betting partnership has emerged as 888 Holdings reached an agreement with Sports Illustrated that could last as long as 20 years. 888 will pay a licensing fee to magazine owner Authentic Brands Group, with added payments according to performance metrics and an equity offering. Authentic Brands will receive a 4.9 percent stake in 888’s U.S. business with options to buy some 20 percent in the future. • Will Entain Plc up the ante to acquire Tabcorp Holdings’ TAB wagering unit? In February, Entain offered AU$3 billion (US$2.2 billion). The company revised its offer upward in April to AU$3.5 billion, a bid that was neither accepted nor rejected by the Tabcorp board. The company is mulling over a substantial increase. U.S. private equity fund Apollo Global equaled the revised offer. Local firm BetMakers also proposed AUS $4 billion. ● The Stronach Group, owner and operator of six U.S. racetracks and one Austrian track, has enlisted an adviser to pour over multiple offers to buy some of its racetracks and training centers. The operator, based in Canada and operated by founder Frank Stronach’s daughter Belinda, owns U.S. tracks including Santa Anita Park, Golden Gate Fields, Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course and Rosecroft Raceway. • Technology supplier DFNN Inc. said its Inplay.ph mobile gaming platform has expanded its offering for the Philippines, adding new games and partners. The platform launched last November. Inplay has recently added new games with gaming partner Spadegaming. • Genting Hong Kong plans to build and manage a new line of cruise ships for international hotel brands. President and CEO Colin Au says the ships will be “designed like airplanes, where function is more important than form, simplifying the design and production process and reducing costs, while allowing for customization by hotel and other brands.” Construction will begin in 2023 with the first ship completed in 2025. ● MGM China executive Pansy Ho has been appointed as the vice-chair of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Media Investment Ltd. The appointment comes after the resignation of the company’s founder and chairman Liu Changle. ● Rivers Casino Des Plaines has begun an expansion that will nearly double the number of gaming positions. The expansion will roll out 800 new gaming positions, including a 22-table poker room, and the property will hire several hundred new dealers. ● Flutter Entertainment has created a new workforce engagement committee designed to strengthen the connection between the group’s board and 14,000 employees across five continents. The group owns Betfair, Paddy Power, PokerStars and FanDuel. ● Macau gaming concessionaire SJM Resorts says its recent vaccination drive saw 3,600 employees and their family members complete their Covid-19 vaccinations. A vaccination center was set up at Grand Lisboa’s Grand Ballroom. Each staffer who received a vaccination got up to three days special paid leave and the chance to win prizes. ● In a sign of the ongoing recovery of Las Vegas tourism, McCarran International Airport reported last month that it handled 3.51 million passengers in May, 600,000 more than April and the most since the Las Vegas casinos reopened in June 2020. But that’s still 23.3 percent below the 4.58 million who passed through McCarran in May 2019 prior to the pandemic. ● Officials of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation announced last month that the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma has again received the prestigious Four Diamond Award from AAA. In February, River Spirit was also named one of the Best Hotels in the U.S. by U.S. News and World Report. ● A Chinese man playing on Scientific Games’ Duo Fu Duo Cai slot machine won $179,000 at the Jeju Dream Tower, the largest jackpot recorded on the South Korean island. The man got lucky just 12 days after the foreigner-only casino opened. Jeju is home to 16 casinos. ● The director of the Macao Government Tourism Office says the city might welcome “7 million to 8 million” visitors for full-year 2021. The estimate was based on the trend in visitor arrivals seen in the first five months, said Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes. The annual forecast is below what the tourism bureau estimated in February, when the possibility was mentioned of 10 million visitor arrivals for 2021. ● Rocker Sammy Hagar has begun a new residency, “Sammy Hagar and Friends,” at the Strat Showroom in Las Vegas. The venue will hold 800, and the series kicks off in October. Hagar will invite all-star such guest stars as Toby Keith, Rick Springfield, Kenny Chesney and Vince Neil to perform at the show. ● Hard Rock Atlantic City celebrated its third anniversary with a concert, a parade, fireworks and $30,000 in donations made to city organizations. Hard Rock AC President Joe Lupo gave away $10,000 each to the Atlantic City Rescue Mission, Covenant House and Turning Point Day Center. The money will provide 3,000 meals to those in need, according to the casino. ● The owner of the Kings Roman Casino in Laos has reportedly resumed construction of an airport to bring wealthy Chinese visitors to the casino. Work on the in Bokeo Province project, which halted in 2017 due to resident concerns, has now resumed, with an opening slated for 2022.
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