NEWS & NOTES

There is growing speculation among the music industry that Irish supergroup U2 is close to formally announcing a series of shows starting in late September that will serve as the debut performances at MSG’s Sphere venue, currently under construction on the Las Vegas Strip. The band’s frontman, Bono, reportedly said on a soon-to-be-released podcast that if the concerts do happen, they will be “nothing like Las Vegas has seen before.” • The Fremont Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas has unveiled a new food hall, a casino floor expansion and a FanDuel Sportsbook, the first pieces of a renovation that will eventually cost a total of $50 million. The added gaming space will accommodate approximately 100 new machines, and the food hall, which was built on space taken from a former parking lot, features six street food-styler eateries from various cultures. The FanDuel Sportsbook, which takes the place of the former buffet, features 12 screens, four betting windows and seven kiosks. • Plans for gaming operator PlayUp to go public via reverse acquisition by special-purpose acquisition company IG Acquisition Corp. have been scrapped. The SPAC announced last week that it has withdrawn its $450 million acquisition offer, after PlayUp failed to provide audited financial results. • Sportsbook operator STS Group will be leaving the U.K. and Estonia gaming markets to focus more of its operations in its native Poland, according to iGaming Business. The business made the decision to leave those markets following record results driven by success in Poland. Following its 2022 financial results, it said its efforts were best spent focusing on its main market. • Catena Media, headquartered in Malta, has appointed Carnegie Investment Bank AB as an advisor to assist in its options for the potential sale of its remaining assets in Europe so it can focus on its North American operations. The advisor will participate in talks with third parties interested in acquiring assets remaining since December, when the affiliate sold AskGamblers to Gaming Innovation Group for €45 million. • Parx Casino, a mini-casino in Shippensburg Township, Pennsylvania, is set to open on February 3 and will contain 500 slot machines, 48 electronic table games, a restaurant and a sports bar. The casino will employ more than 100 full-time people. • Owners of Parrish’s Restaurant in Long Beach, Mississippi recently announced on Facebook that the waterfront venue has closed until an unspecified date this spring. The post read, “As you are aware, we are in the preliminary phases of development of Southern Sand Casino, which encompasses Parrish’s Restaurant. In conjunction with our partners and operators, we have made the decision to change the direction of our present Parrish’s format to accommodate an amenity, which is required by the Mississippi Gaming Commission.” The Gaming Commission requires any new casino in the state to include an amenity that could grow the market. It approved the Long Beach casino site in early 2019.