New York’s Oneida Indian Nation said it increased its 2016 revenue sharing with the state and local counties by $9 million to nearly $62 million and invested $13 million in staff in the form of pay increases and bonuses. • Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut will be the newest location for Sugar Factory American Brasserie. The casual restaurant and confectionary shop will be in the main concourse of the Pequot Tower. It will feature more than 500 varieties of candy and other sweets, including desserts such as the King Kong Sundae made with 24 scoops of ice cream and many toppings. • Plaza Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas will soon host the Brightside-Breakfast and Burgers in bringing their New York style deli, which offers such items as Avocado toast and Eggs Benedict sandwiches. “The Plaza had record occupancy levels last year, driven in part by more special events and conventions, so we continue to add new amenities to further enhance our customers’ experience,” said Plaza CEO Jonathan Jossel. The new restaurant will open in March. • The island nation of Malta’s Gaming Authority has approved fantasy sports game operator DraftKings for a Controlled Skill Games License. Since Malta belongs to the European Union that might allow DraftKings to expand into other EU nations. Through its website, techcrunc.om DraftKings hopes to being offering games early this year. DraftKings will be merging with its erstwhile rival FanDuel sometime this year also. A Controlled Skill Games License covers skill games while distinguishing them from gambling. • Grand Portage Lodge and Casino in Minnesota has completed renovations that include a new 12,00 square foot gaming floor and hotel lobby. This is Phase 2 of three phases. New slot machines have also been added, says General manager Steven StandingCloud, such as Orange is the New Black, Going XI Fa Cal and Alladdin’s Fortune 3D. The casino has 400 machines. Phase 3 is expected to be done by this autumn and will include a facelift of the restaurant and lounge and addition of an event center and meeting rooms. • Proponents of a casino in York County, Maine, the state’s third casino, have gathered more than 65,000 signatures, enough to put the measure on the November ballot. The same group unsuccessfully tried to qualify a similar ballot measure last year. Maine Governor Paul LePage opposes the measure, saying it would hurt the state economy. Maine has two casinos, the Oxford Casino and Hollywood Casino Hotel & Raceway in Bangor. • The Plaza Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas recently got an 18-story mural painted on its northern side. A crew of about eight led by street artist Shepard Fairey of one of his most well-known images, that of Andre the Giant and the word “obey” plus playing card symbols and the “Eye of Providence” from the one dollar bill. The mural is part of the Life is Beautiful music festival in Downtown Las Vegas. • Macau lawmaker and SJM Director Angela Leong will no longer serve as a member of the Zhuhai Central Government’s Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. A source said the central government is seeking to prevent “persons of influence” from holding “multiple public and private positions within China,” but also said the omission of Leong was not politically motivated. ? Two responsible gaming kiosks were introduced last month on the casino floors of Galaxy Macau and Wynn Palace. According to Macau’s Social Welfare Bureau, the kiosks have served some 9,000 residents and tourists seeking help for compulsive gambling. There are now 27 responsible gaming kiosks in Macau. ? The application for SJM Holdings to run a casino inside Legend Palace Hotel at Fisherman’s Wharf on the Macau peninsula is currently under review, said DICJ chief Paulo Martins Chan last month.The development from Macau Legend Development, originally scheduled to start a trial run in mid-January, includes 223 rooms and a casino. ? Star Entertainment Group has completed the acquisition of the Sheraton Mirage Resort at the Gold Coast, according to a filing to the Australian Stock Exchange. Its joint venture partners include Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises and Far East Consortium. Star will take a half interest in the resort and the two Hong Kong parties will hold 25 percent each. ? The launch of Macau’s debtor database will launch sometime this month, says Kwok Chi Chung, president of the Macau Association of Gaming and Entertainment Promoters, which proposed the solution. Kwok says the database will help VIP junket operators prevent overlapping lending and reduced the risk of bad debt. ? The overall jobless rate in Macau was 1.9 percent for the whole year of 2016, but 2.7 percent of local residents were out of work, according to new data from the Statistics and Census Service. Compared to 2015, the local unemployment went up 0.1 percentage point, and the jobless rate of local residents rose by 0.2 percentage points. Median monthly earnings reached MOP15,000 (US$1,875) for 2016, and local residents earned MOP18,000. Both figures were unchanged from 2015. ? Analysts at Technavio forecast the global casino gaming equipment market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 15.25 percent during the period 2017-2021. The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global casino gaming equipment market. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of casino gaming equipment. Technavio’s report, Global Casino Gaming Equipment Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market. • Union Gaming has upgraded the stock of Scientific Games Corporation (SGMS) to Buy (from Hold), and is raising its price target from $11 to $21 per share. “We believe the company has turned a corner, particularly as it relates to carving out a path towards deleveraging,” wrote Union in its report. “While the market has already baked in a good deal of the upside with shares up 22 percent YTD, we believe there is more headroom as it is still early in the deleveraging process.
