NEWS & NOTES

The Nevada Resort Association’s new political action committee, Nevada Resort PAC, sent a survey to candidates for the Nevada legislature asking whether they will publicly support the state’s gaming industry. The PAC, formed in January to support candidates in primary and general elections, asked questions about the gaming industry, the most prominent being a request whether the lawmakers considered themselves “pro-gaming.” It also asked whether the candidates would support increasing taxes on the gaming industry and other industries in Nevada. • Vietnam’s Ministry of Finance has signaled its support of two new casino projects in Vietnam, one located in a tourism site in Da Nang, and the other on Hon Tre Island of Nha Trang City, Vietnamnet reports. The ministry said the two projects could potentially foster tourism growth in each of the localities, which would attract wealthy foreign travelers. The ministry has now asked the prime minister for his greenlight to develop the two projects. • Guy Fieri, host of the television series, “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” will open a new restaurant this spring at Caesars Sportsbook at Chase Field, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The 20,000-square-foot, two-story venue features indoor and outdoor seating including multiple floors of sports betting space, a full-service bar and VIP lounge, an extensive menu, and wall-to-wall TVs. ● Grammy-winning singer Usher launched the first new Las Vegas Strip residency since the pandemic at Dolby Live at Park MGM. Usher: The show will open July 15 and continue through October 29. ● Singapore is expanding the list of places that can participate in its vaccinated travel lane (VTL) scheme, though a quota system still limits the number of travelers who can use it at any one time. From March 4, the city will start VTLs with Israel and the Philippines. The initiatives will enable two-way, quarantine-free, journeys for travelers fully vaccinated against Covid-19. ● Macau has relaxed some quarantine requirements for incoming visitors. Tourists now must quarantine for 14 days, down from 21, then be tested four times over seven days. Arrivals coming across the Macau-Hong Kong-Zhuhai Bridge must take a Covid test at the border before entry. ● The 6,000-seat arena at the Londoner Macao is set to open this year, says Robert Goldstein, chairman and CEO of Sands China Ltd. The company is close to completing a US$2.2 billion revamp of its Cotai portfolio, which included the rebranding of Sands Cotai Central as the Londoner, which launched in February 2021. Sands said it will invest US$225 million in completing the renovation and rebranding. ● The governments of Japan’s Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City have a “basic agreement” on an integrated resort (IR) with MGM Resorts International and its Japanese partner, Orix Corp. The agreement includes a pledge by the casino group and its local partner to spend JPY20.25 billion (US$175 million) on an extension of the Osaka subway system to link it to Yumeshima Island in Osaka Bay, where the casino resort would be located. ● Vietnam, Cambodia and Taiwan have been named as the inaugural stops for a brand-new global poker brand to be launched by the World Poker Tour (WPT) in 2022. WPT Prime, which replaces WPTDeepStacks, will begin at the Crown Poker Club in Hanoi, Vietnam, in May, then visit NagaWorld in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in August before heading to the Chinese Texas Hold’em Poker Association in Taipei, Taiwan, in November. Additional events will be added to the schedule in the weeks to come. ● Cirque du Soleil is set to announce a new Las Vegas show. “Mad Apple” will open May 26 at New York-New York, in a theater that has been mostly empty since “Zumanity” closed in 2020. “Mad Apple” will perform 10 shows a week starting with previews on May 12. ● The Movie Prop Experience has opened in Downtown Las Vegas. Like a museum, it lets customers see props used in major films. Examples include the American Express card from recent James Bond films, an alien predator from “Aliens” scripts from “Casino Royale” and “The Dark Knight.” • The American Gaming Association has released data that the impact of betting in Arizona from its 24 tribal casinos has reached $4.75 billion. It also supported more than 38,000 jobs. The data was collected as of December 31, 2021. Of this, state revenue was $691.4 million, of which 88 percent went towards the Arizona Benefits Fund and 12 percent went to municipalities and counties for government services. • The Navajo Nation is running against the tide in New Mexico, whose governor Michelle Lujan Grisham lifted indoor mask mandates February 17. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez stated: “this does not apply to the Navajo Nation. Keep wearing your masks in public and get fully vaccinated for Covid-19. He added, “Our frontline warriors are fighting this invisible monster every day in our health care facilities.” • Caesars Windsor and Unifor local 444 have begun contract negotiations. Their current contract expires in April. Kevin Laforet, regional president for Caesars Windsor commented, “One of the only silver linings out of the pandemic is we have formed a better working relationship with Unifor.” The union represented 2,200 workers before the pandemic. It now represents less than 1,000 with about the same number laid off. ● The MSG Sphere at the Venetian is getting a mohawk—the nickname for the arched metal support structure for the almost 4-acre, high-resolution LED screen being built inside the $1.9 billion, 17,500-seat entertainment venue. The project is set to open in the latter half of 2023, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.