NEWS & NOTES

MGM China has secured a $750 million loan from its U.S. parent company in the aftermath of its third-quarter loss, negative EBITDA of $68 million. MGM China President Hubert Wang told analysts the company is burning through about $1.5 million a day due to Covid restrictions and limitations on travel. ● China’s National Health Commission has reduced its mandatory quarantine period for foreign arrivals from “7+3” days to “5+3” as part of a 20-point plan announced on November 11. Mass testing will also end as individual eVisas and package tours to Macau resume. ● The price tag for the long-awaited MSG Sphere entertainment venue situated next to the Venetian on the Las Vegas Strip has ballooned by over $150 million, setting the new all-in budget at $2.18 billion. On a recent earnings call, MSG representatives attributed the massive price hike to inflationary struggles and supply chain hiccups. The construction timeline is not expected to change, as the 17,500-seat arena is still slated to open sometime in late 2023. Multiple performers have already confirmed shows for the venue, which will feature the largest LED screen in the world. ● Despite heavy backlash from operators and trade groups, New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet has doubled down on his stance regarding mandatory cashless play. Perrottet recently held a meeting with representatives from ClubsNSW and the NSW Australian Hotels Association, two of the biggest opponents of cashless, and released a statement afterwards reiterating that “the status quo can’t continue.” The decision came as the result of a large-scale investigation that determined gaming machines were the subject of innumerable anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism funding violations. ● Wynn Las Vegas has unveiled an all-access, ultra-luxurious guest package for next year’s Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will cost $1 million each. Each package is good for as many as six guests, and features a four-night stay in a three-bedroom duplex at Encore, complete with butler service and other high-end amenities. Wynn officials also said that for every package sold, $100,000 will go towards local charitable organizations. Of course, guests will also have full access to race festivities, including VIP experiences at the track and paddock areas. ● Brightline West, the company chosen to develop the highly anticipated high-speed rail project that would connect Los Angeles to Las Vegas, is continuing its quest to finally begin construction, and now that it has received several approvals and permits, shovels could start hitting the ground as soon as next year. In total, the project is expected to cost $8 billion, and will create as many as 40,000 temporary construction jobs—the timeline for completion is estimated to be three to four years, meaning that if construction does start next year, the line would likely not be operational until 2026 or 2027. ● A Cook County, Illinois Circuit Court has dismissed the lawsuit filed by Accel Entertainment against Illinois slot route operator Gold Rush. Accel sued after the Illinois Gaming Board denied a request to convert two loans for a total of $40 million the company made to Gold Rush into equity in the route operator. At the time the lawsuit was filed, Gold Rush responded that it had the funds available to repay the full loan. The Circuit Court dismissed the lawsuit, holding that the agreement was unenforceable. The court also dismissed Accel’s claims of violations of the covenant of good faith. Gold Rush may proceed with its own lawsuit against Accel, which claims Accel breached its contract by refusing partial repayment of the loan. ● A bill legalizing New York online gaming and sports betting will be a priority for next year’s state legislative session, according to state Senator Joseph Addabbo Jr. Addabbo told NY Sports Day that his first order of business when the new session begins in January will be to revive a measure he and Assemblyman J. Gary Pretlow introduced early this year which died when the session ended in April. Addabbo told the publication that New York is losing “billions” as residents go to illegal online casinos to gamble. He added that online sports betting also is a priority. • A senior executive and two other employees of Swedish online operator LeoVegas have been arrested for insider trading in connection with the acquisition of LeoVegas by MGM Resorts International. Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet reported that three people—of whom one was a “top manager” at LeoVegas—were arrested on suspicion of insider trading. It added that this one employee was the only one of the three that had any direct connection to the operator. • BMM Testlabs has announced that it has opened its newest office and product testing lab in India. The new facility is located in Cybercity, Gurgaon which is a tech hub that hosts many of India’s high-tech companies. The announcement was made by CEO Martin Storm and Reena Varma, Head of Quality & Operations India. The new lab will do testing and provide certification services for games, systems and other equipment in the gaming industry, both online and brick-and-mortar. It will have 50 trained staff. • The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the gaming regulator for the Netherlands, has warned two unnamed operators that they were “insufficiently complying” with Dutch anti-money laundering (AML) laws and the Terrorist Financing Prevention Act. The warnings followed a long investigation. The authority found that the two operators did not control gaming behavior to an acceptable degree. Players were able to lose large amounts in a short period of time without triggering interventions or investigations, said the KSA. It declared, “Gaming providers must monitor the behavior of their customers and act on it if there is unusual behavior.” KSA also found that many online operators conduct a check when deposits are much higher than €2,500. • The Centraal Register Uitsluiting Kansspelen (Cruks) players self-exclusion system of the Netherlands has broken down again. It is currently unable to register new players or perform checks, according to KSA, the Dutch Gambling Authority. The issue involves a malfunction with the BSN checks used to validate a person who registers. The BSN is a unique citizen ID number. A similar problem shut down the system at the end of September. In August the regulator announced that the number registered for self-exclusion was 20,000. • Vancouver-based GeoComply Solutions Inc., announced they were able to relocate an undetermined number of Ukrainian employees from that war-torn country to its new Toronto office. The cybersecurity firm said they were able to fast-track the employees through the immigration process, working with the Canadian government. • The Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma has chosen Shift4 Tuesday to process payments for its 23 Chickasaw Nation properties, including casinos, non-tribal owned locations, and third-party venues under contract with the Tribe. In addition, Shift4 will provide commerce-enabling hardware for the locations and collaborate with Everi to support select cashless casino operations.