NEWS & NOTES

Fitch Ratings could downgrade Crown Resorts from BBB to high B or lower if the Australian casino operator completes its expected sale to the Blackstone Group. According to Fitch analysts, “We expect that in this scenario, any rating action would result in a multi-notch downgrade, as such leverage levels are more commensurate with the metrics of ‘B’ category rated gaming issuers or below.” Crown currently owns and operates three resorts in Australia – Crown Melbourne, Crown Perth and Crown Sydney. ● The new operator of the Venetian Las Vegas has created an “equity-like” sharing program that could be worth thousands of dollars for each employee at the Strip resort. Apollo Global Management Inc., which recently completed a deal to purchase operations of the Venetian from Las Vegas Sands, announced the program last week to the resort’s roughly 7,000 employees. It will give all employees a share of any “value creation” at the property. ● A Facebook group of 250 people from the town of Kalgoorlie, Australia, will split a winning Powerball lottery jackpot. The group members will share US$91.3 million. The Facebook group has the prophetic name, “Goldfields, let’s pay our mortgages.” The jackpot is the second-largest prize in the history of an Australian lottery game. ● The Washington State Gambling Commission and the Nisqually Indian tribe have reached a tentative agreement to amend the tribe’s Class III gaming compact. The new compact updates procedures and regulations that are almost 30 years old related to the Red Wind Casino near Olympia. They include sports betting, higher wager limits and the extension of credit to customers. The compact now goes to the legislature and the governor for approval. The English Hotel, a new nongaming property in the Las Vegas Arts District, opens this week. The 74-room boutique hotel is a ZLife Co. development project named for celebrity chef Todd English. It was developed by California-based ZLife, run by Weina Zhang and Anna Olin. Olin said the hotel is geared for the “cultured renegade.” ● The first Native American-owned distillery on U.S. reservation land has opened in Washington State. The Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation have begun distilling their own spirits at the Talking Cedar distillery. All income from Chehalis businesses go toward education and academic development programs for Native youth, quality healthcare and wellness programs and other tribal services. ● The Philippine government placed Metro Manila and 38 other regions across the country under Covid alert Level 1 as of March 1, the lowest countermeasure against the further spread of Covid-19. Now businesses can operate at full capacity. Casino resorts in Entertainment City have been operating under limited capacity and with restrictions in place. The measures have included only allowing fully-vaccinated customers into casino premises, and limiting the number of players per gaming table. ● The Quapaw Nation Gaming Agency has renewed its gaming license with Game Changing Technologies. The company has 120 active gaming licenses for tribal and commercial casinos in 20 states. ● The Rhode Island Lottery has signed a 20-year contract with IGT to be the exclusive supplier. The contract is good until June 20, 2043. IGT will provide iLottery services and video lottery solutions. The legislation authorizing the deal was signed last year by Governor Dan McKee. ● Cascades Casino North Bay in Ontario, Canada, will open for the first time next week. Spokesman Rob Mitchell said, “This is not our grand opening, we’re calling it a soft opening. The casino offers roulette, blackjack, slots and electronic games. The opening was postponed many months by Covid, he said, and masking is still required. “Other than that we’re almost back to normal.” ● The Wyoming Senate Travel, Recreation, Wildlife & Cultural Resources Committee has moved a bill to the Senate that would prevent Wyoming Gaming Commission officials and staff from engaging in gaming activities they regulate. Sponsor and Senator Affie Ellis said, “Ensuring integrity and fairness is critical to the credibility of Wyoming’s gaming industry That integrity is called into question when gaming commissioners are allowed to benefit off the games and activities they regulate.” ● Spillemyndigheden, Denmark’s gaming regulator, blocked a record number of illegal gaming websites in 2021. At the same time consumers are moving toward a regulated sector in record numbers. In its annual report, the regulator said it blocked 55 domains that offered illegal gaming to Danish consumers. That was three times the number blocked in 2020. ● The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs of Washington have reopened the Kah-Nee-Ta Village, three years after closing it on the Warm Springs Reservation. The spa, which once included a casino until it was closed in 2012, was revived by $6 million from the American Rescue Plan Act. ● Australian sportsbook operator Sportsbet says it now has a 50 percent share of that nation’s sports betting market. Parent company Flutter Entertainment released the figures, which indicate that it grew 20 percent in 2021 and enjoyed a 27 percent increase in players assisted by the online migration caused by Covid-19.