CASINO NEWS: NEW SPHERE ARENA ON VEGAS STRIP & GALAXY MACAU LAUNCHES NEW VIP CLUB
VENETIAN BREAKS GROUND ON NEW SPHERE ARENA ON LAS VEGAS STRIP
Two major entertainment brands began work last week on changing the face of live performance – and the Las Vegas skyline – with a ceremonial ground-breaking for the 18,000-seat MSG (Madison Square Garden) Sphere at The Venetian.
The Sphere is a collaboration by Madison Square Garden and Las Vegas Sands, operator of The Venetian and Palazzo and the Sands Expo & Convention Centre, just west of the construction site.
On the inside, the Sphere will show off the latest audio and video technology to a crowd of 18,000 people. It will have a 160,000-square foot screen that will wrap around the bowl.
The sound transmission system, produced by thousands of tiny speakers embedded in the venue’s walls, will enable the same sound clarity in the front row as it will in the back. The beamforming technology also will be able to direct sound with laser-like precision so that on-stage performers will be able to hear their backup riffs without wires, or speakers in a business presentation could offer a demonstration in different languages to different parts of the building wirelessly.
At 360 feet (110m) tall it will be just shy of the height of the nearby Venetian tower and will have the same diameter as The Linq’s High Roller observation wheel. It’s going to dominate the Las Vegas skyline.
Madison Square Garden has embarked on a program to build Sphere venues in other cities. The company has committed to building one in London, but the venue in Las Vegas, due for completion in 2020/2021 will be the first completed.
Other new venues coming to the Vegas Strip around the same time as the MSG Sphere will be The Drew from Resort World (formerly The Fountainbleu) and the NFL Raiders stadium.
GALAXY MACAU LAUNCHES NEW IN-HOUSE ‘DIRECT PREMIUM’ VIP CLUB
Macau casino operator Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) has rolled out a new high-roller area in its flagship Galaxy Macau property.
Last week GEG announced the debut of JinMen8, its new VIP gaming club at the top of the Ritz-Carlton hotel at Galaxy Macau. The opening has been three years and some A$51m in the making.
The new VIP area encompasses a main floor featuring 18 gaming tables with a maximum betting limit of around A$257K.
For gamblers with a few more zeroes in the bank, there are also five gaming salons, two of which feature two tables apiece, while the truly ‘crazy rich Asians’ will head straight for one of the other three salons, each of which contains only a single table with a maximum betting limit of A$530K.
Over 200 GEG staff have been allocated to attend to the whims and needs of JinMen8 guests, including an exclusively appointed Executive Chef.
JimMen is GEG’s in-house VIP brand, and it caters to ‘direct premium’ gamblers, to whom GEG directly extends credit rather than utilizing the services of a junket middleman.
Benedict Wan, GEG’s VP for international premium and mass market development said the company planned an official launch party for the new club last weekend. He went on to say that this would be the only in-house VIP expansion GEG had planned for this year.
Sources: Smartbrief, CalvinAyre & Las Vegas Review
