NEWS & NOTES

The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa announced the concert schedule for its newly developed Borgata Festival Park, an outdoor concert venue slated to debut on June 13. The new venue will launch with popular Philadelphia band The Hooters, with special guests G. Love and Special Sauce and Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes. Other headliners this summer will include The Killers (June 20), Meghan Trainor (July 3), 311 (July 19), Darius Rucker (August 15), Willie Nelson (August 16) and Counting Crows (September 5), all booked through Live Nation Philadelphia.  •  Scientific Games Corporation announced that the company has been named one of “Georgia’s Top 40 Most Innovative Companies” by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG), an association dedicated to the promotion and economic advancement of technology in the state. TAG’s “Top 40 Awards” recognize Georgia technology companies for their innovation, financial impact and their efforts at spreading awareness of Georgia’s technology initiatives throughout the U.S. and globally.  •  Pennsylvania’s Parx Casino has denied rumors that it is the unnamed casino that officials of European online gaming giant bwin.party has tapped as a partner in potential legalized iGaming in the state. Bwin announced that it is partnering with a state casino in the event iGaming is legalized, and speculation immediately turned to Parx, the most profitable casino in the state. The Bensalem casino has ended those rumors, stating specifically that it is not partnered with the online company.  •  The New York Times is launching a monthly Chinese-language print publication in Hong Kong and Macau. The Times is one of several Western media outlets whose websites have been blocked in Mainland China. According to the Times, the 24-page publication will be titled Chinese Monthly and will be launched on May 1 with a print run of 50,000 copies. It will be made available in hotels, airline lounges and residential complexes, and on newsstands in Hong Kong and Macau.  ?  Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd. has announced a 5 percent pay raise for all eligible non-management employees, effective in April.  ?   The closure of VIP gaming rooms in Macau has cost 1,000 people their jobs, according to the casino employee union, Macau Gaming Industry Frontline. A number of VIP rooms have closed and some junket operators have consolidated their operations in response to the decline in high-roller play in the market.  ?  The government of Macau may consolidate the city’s horse and greyhound tracks.Assembly member Lam Heong Sang has suggested that the government build community facilities on the site now occupied by the dog track, the Yat Yuen Canidrome.Macau Canidrome Co. Ltd. owns the track; its greyhound racing concession expires October 31.  ?  Tioga Downs will hold a job fair beginning March 28. The job fair will seek employees for areas in security, food and beverage, mutual tellers, and more. The past decade has seen Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs create over 700 family-sustaining jobs.  •  The Carson Nugget in downtown Carson City has recently gone through upgrades. Included in the upgrades are the All-American Eatery, Alatte Coffee and Wine Bar, a 140-seat Comedy Club, and a bigger sports book.   •  MGM Grand has upped the rates for a hotel room for May 1 and May 2 to start at $1,600 a night, due to the Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fight. The hotel is currently at 98 percent capacity. After the fight was announced, room rates jumped to $900 a night.  •   Resorts World Las Vegas will have a groundbreaking ceremony on May 5 for the $4 billion Asian-themed property built by the Genting Group. The first phase of construction will feature 3,500 rooms and over 175,000 square feet of casino space.  •  A hotel and arena project from developer Jackie Robinson will begin construction next to the SLS Las Vegas this fall. The $1.4 billion project will feature a $695 million arena, but no casino gaming. Robinson hopes to be in talks with the National Basketball Association after the arena opens about a potential team in Las Vegas.  •  MGM has successfully sued a marijuana company who called itself “M’Life,” but forcing a name change. The company’s CEO, Dan Lutz, said he wasn’t aware of MGM’s loyalty card “M Life.” Lutz’s company was refused a dispensary by the state in October.