NEWS & NOTES

The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board reported $261 million in gaming revenue from the state’s casinos in September, an increase of 2.9 percent over the same month last year. Slot revenue rose 2.4 percent and table game revenue improved by 4.3 percent. Parx Casino led the market with $45.9 million, up 10 percent year on year. Sands Bethlehem was second at $44.2 million but led the state in table win with $19.4 million.  •  The Miracle Mile Shops, the 200-store mall inside the Planet Hollywood Resort on the Las Vegas Strip, has been sold to a financial consortium called Institutional Mall Investors for an unconfirmed price of $1.1 billion.  •  Tom Little has resigned as CEO of Intralot’s U.S. subsidiary, Intralot Inc. The company said Intralot Group Chief Operating Officer Nikos Nikolakopoulos will succeed him on an interim basis. Little will become non-executive chairman of Intralot Inc. pending his retirement.  •  The Monte Carlo on the Las Vegas Strip announced that Cher will perform 18 dates at the resort’s new Park Theater beginning in February. The 70-year-old entertainer’s deal with parent MGM Resorts International will see her also appear at the Theater at MGM National Harbor in Maryland, which is slated to open in December.  •  Treasure Island on the Las Vegas Strip is adding 12,500 square feet of conventions and meeting space at a cost of $6.5 million. The addition, set to open next year, will give the property more than 30,000 total square feet of convention area.  •  The inaugural Tribal Cannabis & Hemp Symposium will be held November 1-2 at Tulalip Resort Casino. The symposium, presented by Victor-Strategies and Pechanga.net, will address the issue of cannabis and hemp production in Indian Country, and possible ways to profit from the U.S. government’s recent decision that tribes are free to produce and sell marijuana on their reservations. At least 11 keynote speakers will discuss the issues surrounding legalized marijuana production and sales in Indian Country, explore the pros and cons of the new industry, and identify success scenarios for tribal engagement.  •  A new report from MarketResearchReports.biz, “Global Sports Betting Market 2016-2020,” predicts that the global sports betting sector will grow at by 4.26 percent during the period 2016-2020. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global sports betting market  by 2020. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from land-based sports betting and online sports betting.  • Producers of Ocean’s 8, an all-female casino heist drama starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Rihanna and Anne Hathaway set for a June 2018 release, has retained Rye Park Gaming to create the set for the Warner Bros./Village Roadshow film. Rye Park is a premier supplier of sets for casino and nightclub sets in the film industry. In their portfolio is the casino set for the 2017 action film Sleepless with Jamie Foxx and the 2012 Thriller Safe with Jason Statham.  •  Despite some delays imposed by summer monsoon storms the San Carlos Apache Nation hopes to open its Apache Sky Casino by next January. The casino resort is being built on a 170 acre site near Dudleyville, Arizona. It will open in a temporary 15,000 square foot building for the casino, with other amenities, such as an RV park, being added later. The tribe broke ground in February.  •  Jack Cincinnati Casino in downtown Cincinnati has begun charging more for parking in its casino garage, raising the cost even for some of its membership card holders. The parking garage was free when it opened, but as of October 17 non-members will pay $10 to park from 7 a.m.–5 p.m. and J Card members will be charged $10 for parking from 6 a.m.-9:30 a.m. weekdays. Only A,C and K card members will be able to park free all the time.  •  The Department of the Interior has notified the Nooksack tribe that it does not recognize any of its council actions taken after March 24, a date when the council’s quorum was not achieved because several council members’ terms expired, and no elections were held to replace them. This prevents the tribal council from disenrolling 306 members. The tribal court is attempting to force the council to hold new elections in which the 306 members would be allowed to vote.  •  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is set to sign tough anti-smoking legislation this month. The ban on smoking in public could take effect as early as November. It is modeled on a law in Davao City, where Duterte was mayor for 22 years. Penalties for breaking the anti-smoking law in Davao includes a 5,000 Philippine peso (US$103) fine or four months in prison.  ?  Jerry See of Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority has applauded the city’s casino operators for improving their regulatory compliance. In 2015, Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands amassed financial penalties of SGD417,500 (US$300,000) for what the regulator called breaches of social safeguards and failure to conduct table games in accordance with the rules.  ?  Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau is reviewing a request from Melco Crown Entertainment to put VIP gaming tables in its Studio City resort on the Cotai Strip. The Hollywood-themed resort opened last fall without VIP facilities due to the sluggish state of the market.