Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING JANUARY 2018 12 THE LAS VEGAS Strip site formerly pegged for Crown Resorts’ ambitious US$2.5 billion Alon Las Vegas project has been snapped up by Wynn Resorts. In an announcement, Crown said it had entered into an agreement with a subsidiary of Wynn Resorts Ltd to sell the vacant 34.6 acre site for US$300 million – around US$100 million less than had been previously forecast. The transaction is expected to be completed by late January 2018 with Crown’s share of the gross proceeds to come in at around US$264 million. Crown resorts announced in May 2017 its intention to sell the parcel of land, having previously revealed in December 2016 that it was backing out of the Alon project. Wynn Resorts has hailed the acquisition of the land – located directly across the Las Vegas Strip from Wynn Las Vegas – as a unique opportunity. “The agreement completes a unique assembly of contiguous real estate of approximately 280 acres that spans from the Las Vegas Convention Center on Paradise Road from the east, to Industrial Road on the west,” it said. “The combined frontage on the Las Vegas Strip is over 3,500 feet, including rights to approximately 1,000 acre feet of water. It is adjacent to nearly six million square feet of convention and exhibition space. The average cost of the full assembly of 280 acres is less than US$3 million per acre. WYNN TO BUY FORMER ALON LAS VEGAS SITE FROM CROWN RESORTS Japanese gaming machine manufacturer and IR operator Sega Sammy Holdings Inc is set to link with Kyoto University to conduct a three-year study into gambling addiction which it says “will be utilized in Japan to establish measures to prevent its onset, progression and recurrence.” The research, to begin in 2018 and run through to 2021, will be led by Kokoro Research Center of Kyoto University and aided by the Graduate School of Medicine. It will see data from overseas casino operations collected and analyzed with the aim of identifying signs that appear prior Sega Sammy and Kyoto University to launch three-year problem gambling study “The future development of the land will further change tourist visitation patterns in Las Vegas drawing more visitors to the north end of Las Vegas Blvd and its collection of luxury resorts, including the existing Wynn Las Vegas and the Paradise Park development slated to begin construction in January 2018 on the site of the former Wynn Golf Course.” to a person’s engagement in dangerous gambling. The results are expected to elucidate the mechanisms that induce gambling addiction, the company said. Sega Sammy has stated its intention to pursue a Japanese casino license and has made no secret of the fact that its first foray into casino operations at Korea’s Paradise City – of which it owns 45% – is a move designed to gain IR experience. Explaining its new gambling addiction study, Sega Sammy said that although it plans to enter the IR business in Japan, it “believes it is the responsibility of operators to deal sincerely with social issues.” “For the introduction of IRs in Japan, advanced IR development based on the study of precedent cases from other countries is required,” it said. “This requires IRs to offer not only attractive facilities and content, but solutions to social issues. “Sega Sammy has been working to develop a system for the collection of a type of player data at casino facilities that has yet to be achieved in existing operations. Using this research, we aim to build a system to identify players exhibiting signs of addiction and prevent further progression.”