Madison Square Garden is confronting a major cost overrun on its spherical event center near Venelazzo, meant to—among other things—aggrandize the ego of Sheldon Adelson. Shares of MSG were sent 
staggering by the revelation that the $1.2 billion cost had ballooned to $1.7 billion. To put that in perspective, MGM Resorts International spent only $375 million to construct T-Mobile Arena. Or, put another way, you could build four T-Mobiles for the cost of Sheldon’s Sphere and still have hundreds of millions left over. “MSG plans to open the high-tech Las Vegas venue in 2021. It will host concerts, product launches, award shows and sporting events and feature an interior display the size of three football fields,” reported Bloomberg. Still, think of the possibilities: Sheldon Adelson’s noggin projected on a screen hundreds of feet high. The horror.
* In the latest strange twist of the Philippines‘ online-gambling saga, the government has requested that terrestrial hubs of Internet gaming be moved further away from military bases, for fear that Chinese workers could be doubling as spies for Beijing. “Knowing that Chinese companies are mandated by the Chinese government to assist in intel collection for their government, it is not far-fetched that individuals, likewise, could be compelled to do so,” warned Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. In a bit of tit for tat, Chinese officials said the same could apply to Filipino workers in China. You can’t make up this stuff.
* Nevada may be the sports betting capital of America, but that standing could be threatened, all due to a failure by the industry to catch up to the latest developments in mobile wagering. If you don’t schlep down to your local sports book and create an account, game over. (A similar problem is faced in Illinois and 10 other states.) “Nevada was the leader in being able to allow mobile wagering [first], dating clear back to the wager pager. But it has not taken the full leap with mobile registration,” says Global Market Advisors‘ Brendan Bussmann. It also incentivizes punters to stick with illegal bookies rather than get off their couch and register.
Places like New Jersey, which allow remote registration, could eat Nevada’s lunch if the Silver State doesn’t evolve. Whatever you do, if you’re in Nevada and don’t have an account, DON’T wait until game time to go to the sports book and open one, lest you be caught in a long line before kickoff and can’t place that Cincinnati Bengals wager you cherished. In an attempt to prop up casino attendance, Nevada regulators have avoided making registration easier. “The basic argument is, there are casinos everywhere. It’s not that big of a deal to go to a casino,” says gaming attorney Tony Cabot. Yeah, let’s not do anything. That’s the spirit.
* Taking the role of counsel for the defense, the Las Vegas Review-Journal‘s Richard Velotta goes above and beyond the call of duty in denouncing the Massachusetts Gaming Commission‘s use of a monitor of Wynn Resorts’ compliance. Oblivious to the irony that a culture of sexual predation ran rampant on Nevada regulators’ watch, Velotta writes that “regulators tend to trust casino companies—trust built from an over 50-year relationship.” That’s precisely the problem.
