NEWS & NOTES

The board of regents of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas has voted 11-1 to approve an agreement with the Oakland Raiders covering the teams’ joint use of the 65,000-seat domed stadium that will be the Raiders’ Las Vegas home for the start of the 2020 National Football League season. UNLV, meanwhile, was set to break ground this week on new training facilities for its team. The $28 million, 73,000-square-foot Fertitta Football Training Complex, slated to open in 2019, is being built with a combination of loans and private donations, including $10 million from the Fertitta family, $1.5 million from Michael Gaughan, $1 million from Las Vegas Sands and $500,000 from George Maloof Jr.  •   Fortune has rated Wynn Resorts No. 1 among casino operators on the magazine’s “2018 Most Admired Companies” list. The rankings, based on input from industry executives and analysts in nine categories, saw Wynn finish first among hospitality companies worldwide for “Quality of Products/Services” and third overall high marks for “Innovation, People Management, Quality of Management” and “Global Competitiveness.”  •  Nevada’s largest casinos wrote off $70.1 million in uncollectable gambling markers in the last fiscal year, according to figures released by the Nevada Gaming Control Board. The total was the lowest since fiscal 2005 and amounted to 0.6 percent of the $11.1 billion of gaming revenue amassed by operators generating at least $1 million in annual win. The industry’s worst year came in 2000, when it was forced to expense $250 million in bad debt.  •  Golden Entertainment has concluded an underwritten public offering of 7,475,000 shares at the offer price of $28 per share. Golden grossed approximately $27.3 million from its portion of the sale, consisting of 975,000 shares (Nasdaq: GDEN), and plans to use the net proceeds for general corporate purposes, which may include capital expenditures, acquisitions or working capital. The company did not receive any proceeds from the balance of the offering, consisting of 6,500,000 shares sold by certain shareholders. At the same time, CEO Blake Sartini and Director Lyle Berman sold a combined 1.703 million shares as part of the company’s secondary public offering.   •  Regal United Artists Showcase Theater has closed its Showcase Mall venue, leaving the Las Vegas Strip without a movie theater. Jordache Enterprises, which has owned the mall since 2015, has not disclosed its plans for the 40,000-square-foot space.   •  MGM Resorts International has donated $768,000 to Las Vegas’ Three Square Food Bank to expand a partnership that will see five of the gaming giant’s resorts teaming up to provide 800,000 meals to needy city residents by 2020. The partnership’s Surplus Banquet Food Donation Program has provided 80,000 meals since its establishment at Aria in 2016.  •  Wolfgang Puck’s Spago has ended its 25-year run in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in favor of plans to relocate to Bellagio sometime this summer. The iconic eatery, credited with launching the Las Vegas restaurant boom when it opened in 1992, served its last meal on Saturday.   •  Macau police conducted an armed-robbery drill at Galaxy Macau last week, pronouncing the drill a success. The simulated attack, named “Wolf Capture,” was designed to prepare employees for emergency situations like the 2016 attacks on casino resorts that took place in Las Vegas and Manila last year. Each of those incidents claimed dozens of lives and heightened concerns about the vulnerability of public places.  ●  The number of casino exclusion applications in Macau grew 7.1 percent in 2017, reaching a total of 376, according to the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. Self-exclusion applications decreased around 3 percent to a total of 316, but third-party exclusions increased 140 percent, for a total of 60, compared to only 25 in 2016.  ●  The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, also known as the Delta Bridge, should be open on a 24-hour basis, say authorities.The connection of the viaduct, tunnel and at-grade roads of the Hong Kong Link Road of HKZMB have been completed in May 2017, while road surfacing works and road facilities will be completed within a week.The remaining works in progress mainly include the final installation and testing of the Traffic Control and Surveillance System, as well as the final works of some ancillary facilities.  •  The Wyoming legislature’s Joint Appropriations Committee has voted to sponsor a bill that would allow the state to take 5 percent or about $1 million a year from the Wyoming Lottery and put it in the general fund. The state’s take of mineral taxes has declined recently, causing it to cut its budget drastically. The WyoLotto, which started four years ago, was an obvious spigot to tap, although most of its profits are shared with municipalities and counties. Critics say the move will rob money from those beneficiaries.  •  The Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians February 1 will open the Willows Hotel & Spa as part of an expansion of Viejas Resort. The 159-suite adult only retreat is being billed as a “hotel within a hotel.”  •  Sycuan Casino in San Diego County is looking to add 700 jobs, part of its $226 million expansion. The casino may find itself competing for workers since the area’s jobless rate is currently 3.3 percent. The casino is looking for people with “soft” skills for interacting with customers, people who don’t just want a job, but to begin a career.  It will open its new 159-room hotel and spa on February 1. •  The National Indian Gaming Commission has finalized a rule making it easier for tribes to pay fees. The Park 514 rule was published last week in the Federal Register. Instead of two deadlines for adopt fees, such as fingerprint rates— it sets one deadline, November 1. This will, says Chairman Jonodev Chaudhuri, make it easier for gaming tribes to set budgets.  ●  Macau Legend’s proposed redesign of the Legendale Hotel is still on hold pending government approval. The planned five-star hotel would be the third in the gaming group’s redevelopment of Macau Fisherman’s Wharf.  ●  Bloomberry Resorts Corp. will bestow shares in its company as a “reward” for “loyal patrons” at its Solaire Resort and Casino in Manila. In a January 22 filing, the board of directors of Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels Inc. authorized the purchase of up to 2 million shares of Bloomberry Resorts Corp. to give to high rollers.  ●