NEWS & NOTES

A steel structure of the 0 million MGM Springfield is rising from the city’s South End into the sky as a giant tower crane lifts steel beams onto what will soon take shape as a casino and hotel.   The 14.5 acres of the project will include 850,000 square feet of residential, dining, retail, hotel and gaming that will occupy three city blocks. It is expected to provide employment for 2,200 people full-time and 2,000 temporary construction jobs.  Although the casino is not expected to open for two years, the company held the first job fair last week at the MassMutual Center.  •  Thriller Live, the stage show celebrating the music of Michael Jackson, opened at the Parisian Macao’s new Parisian Theatre September 30. The tour, which originated in London’s West End, includes a cast of almost two dozen performers who make 300 costume changes. The show runs until November 13.  ?  The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. has launched a study of the possible sale of more than 40 gaming outlets. PAGCOR head Andrea Domingo says the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the privatization of “productive assets” to end conflicts of interest the regulator faced from being a casino operator.  ?  Mocha Club founder Chang Wang will invest in Macau’s Paradise Entertainment through the purchase of warrants carrying the rights to subscribe for shares. The net proceeds from the subscription of warrants are about HK$1.5 million. If the rights are exercised in full, the company will receive net proceeds of $71.5 million.  ?  The Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, which recently offered to buy back senior notes due 2021 and 2018 early at the 9.75 percent rate for Senior Notes Due 2012 and 11 percent for the Senior Subordinated Notes due 2018, announced last week that as of the September 30 deadline holders of 96.77 percent of the 2021 principal notes and 99.58 percent of the 2018 Notes had taken the tribe up on the early purchase. The notes are worth $566,087,000 and $99,768,000 respectively.  •   UK-based Genius Sports, which provides 24/7 sports data technology, distribution and commercialization services globally, has opened tech hubs in Los Angeles, California, Medellin, Columbia and Vilnius, Lithuania, giving it a presence in more than a dozen nations. “The expansion of operation centers in key locations underlines our commitment to providing around-the-clock services to our clients and builds on our reputation as one of the fastest growing sports technology companies in the world,” said Mark Locke, the company’s chief executive officer. • At last week’s TwitchCon conference in San Diego Amazon Game Studios announced that it will start offering its own virtual currency for eSports on its video streaming game site Twitch. The virtual currency will premiere in the new team-based battle game Breakaway. The points will be used for polls and wagering on the site and to “buy” virtual items. Amazon and Twitch have not discussed in any detail how the virtual currency will actually work. • GeoComply Solutions, Inc. a Vancouver-based provider of solutions for geolocation and anti-fraud has announced the launch of the Solus omni-channel solution for iLottery in U.S. markets and its partnership with NeoPollard Interactive. The new solutions are tailored for web browsing without requiring downloads. “We have designed Solus to fit the specific characteristics of the regulated lottery market to protect those rights across mobile and PCs, while allowing for a simple and streamlined user experience,” said GeoComply CEO Anna Sainsbury.