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Mohegan Shoots for Lower Manhattan Casino License

Mohegan Gaming is joining up with Soloviev Group to throw its hat in the ring for one of three downstate New York casino licenses. While the partnership wasn’t widely known until a late January announcement, the Soloviev Group’s digital literature on the proposed project is dated November 2022.

Mohegan Gaming isn’t specifically named in the PDF brochure, only a reference to an “opportunity to partner with a casino partner who shares our vision, commitment to excellence and who is best suited to operate such a groundbreaking endeavor for the City of New York.”

However, according to an article in the New York Times, Mohegan Gaming is partnering with the long-time owner of nearly 7 acres in Midtown, New York to build and operate a casino to be built underground with a park and giant Ferris wheel on top. Amenities would include a hotel, residential and retail areas, and four acres of green space, which group founder Stefan Quinn Soloviev has dubbed Freedom Plaza.

Manhattan Waterfront Underground Casino

Soloviev purchased the 6.5-acre waterfront plot from Consolidated Edison in 2000 for $600 million.

The location is near the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The plot of land is the largest contiguous piece of undeveloped property in Manhattan. Approvals have already purportedly been given for 2.75M sq ft of mixed use development. The company has owned the plot “shovel-ready” for over 15 years, waiting for the right opportunity to present itself.

The company mentions that the East River Entertainment District addition would extend the current East River Waterfront Renewal project, adding to the existing waterfront parks, bike lanes, pedestrian seating, and basketball courts along the two-mile-long Esplanade.

Soloviev Group CEO, Michael Hershman said that the project was “beyond a casino”.

As currently imagined, the project would feature a raised podium & public park with retail and amenities. The company explained that a layered plan would maximize the available space while cutting down on towers, and would result in more open space for the community.

Illustrations of the concept are labeled as “approved buildable plans” and show a narrow band of lowest-level underground parking topped by casino, restaurant, and retail space spanning the entire width of the property.

Open Spaces Everywhere

Atop is a domed park and recreation area with several residential towers – one version holds a commercial tower at one end – another shows a new museum for New York City at the other end – the “world’s first museum dedicated to the celebration of freedom and democracy.”

More detailed architectural art shows a massive Ferris Wheel centered on top of the park’s central “dome”.

If current architectural drawings are predictive of the final plot, open spaces would not be confined to ground level or rooftops – some of the mirrored glass towers that could have a hotel, residential, or commercial spaces inside, have sections of a level and entire floors open to the elements with greenery and grass.

The New York State Gaming Commission (NYSGC) announced a Request for Application for three full-scale Las Vegas-style casino licenses first written into law after a 2013 voter referendum. Mohegan is one of the last to announce plans with the only other highly anticipated announcer being Hard Rock International – but that announcement may never come. The company has played its cards close to its chest with a possible venue only a few miles away at Meadowlands in New Jersey.

CEO and President of Mohegan Gaming, Ray Pineault said: “Mohegan is known for the wide array of extraordinary experiences and exceptional service we provide our guests – but it is truly our culture, values, and commitment to our community that set us apart as an organization.

“Our rich Mohegan heritage provides the foundation for how we operate our business and guides our commitment to our employees, our approach to guest services, and our relationship with partners and the communities in which we operate and serve. We look forward to infusing our “Spirit of Aquai,” our guiding philosophy, into New York State.”

Mohegan Gaming is no stranger to large or unique projects. One of its largest endeavors to date has been INSPIRE Integrated Resort Co., Ltd. Korea. Mohegan INSPIRE is building the largest resort in Northeast Asia. It’s located at Incheon International Airport in Yeongjong-do. The project will be completed in 4 phases through 2046.

Phase One is under construction and features 3 five-star hotels (approximately 1,200 rooms), an arena with 15,000 seats (multipurpose performance hall), an indoor water park, convention facilities, a foreigner-only casino, a digital street, and an outdoor family park.

Source: Mohegan pushes for massive Ferris wheel to crown out proposed NY casino near UN headquarters, Asian Gaming Brief, February 1, 2023

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Kyrie Irving Trade Request: Bet Possibilities Are Endless

Kyrie Irving wants out of Brooklyn, and another loyal fan base has been lost. Nets fans, welcome to the world of Cavs and Celtics fans.

Let’s just say the guy has tremendous handles, crazy hoops skills, and an IQ that is off the charts. But he sure knows how to stir the pot when he wants to, eh?

So where to? And that is where it gets interesting from a wagering perspective. When a talent like that comes onto the market, half of the NBA becomes interested. And with only four days left until the NBA trade deadline, we are about to see one heck of a hectic week.

Some books are making the Miami Heat the favorite, mostly because forward Duncan Robinson and guard Kyle Lowry can be had, and that deal would give the Nets a point guard with experience and yet another 3-point shooter to complement Kevin Durant, Seth Curry, and Joe Harris (if the latter two remain). The Heat, by the way, are +4000 to win the title.

But the Lakers have to be in play, too, because a pairing of three superstars has been a tried and true formula in winning NBA championships. Put Kyrie with forward LeBron James and center Anthony Davis, and you will not see the Lakers championship odds where they are today (+3000). Guard Russell Westbrook and at least one first-round pick would have to be included.

And then we have the Dallas Mavericks, who need a consistent second scorer alongside Luka Don?i?. Power forward Dorian Finney-Smith is available, and guard Spencer Dinwiddie would fill the hole at point guard in the BK. The Mavs are +3500 to win the title.

So we are listing those teams as the easiest potential destinations for Irving. But there are others who will be in the mix. When a guy like Kyrie is on the market, only two teams can be counted out: Cleveland and Boston, where Irving has burned his bridges.

Irving is, how shall we say, mercurial. He won a championship in Cleveland with a last-second shot in the deciding game, then moved to Boston, where he infuriated the fan base by changing his mind as often as Dr. Fauci changed the COVID rules. One of those two guys remains relevant, and it ain’t the elderly doctor. Irving was actually beloved in certain parts of New York because he refused to comply with vaccine mandates, a stance that was eventually held to be constitutional because humans, not governments, get to decide what goes into their bodies. Legions of unionized municipal workers in New York eventually regained their jobs as a result.

So the guys is principled, and when he requests a trade there is a reason behind it that we will come to learn over the course of the upcoming week.

The NBA dominated the sport dialogue in the second week of February because NFL football is dormant, baseball’s spring training has not yet begun, and the trade deadline makes basketball website traffic go through the roof.

In the gambling world, it is a matter of trying to ascertain which teams make sense, and then wager away. We can pretty much forget about the Nets winning their division, because they sit five games behind Boston and would lose the tiebreaker to the Celtics. But the Sixers? They are just 2 games back and have odds of +600 to win the Atlantic. They have won 14 of 17, Joel Embiid is climbing up the MVP charts and they have three games left against Boston, which has lost four of six. At +900 to win the division, that is not the worst wager idea in the history of ideas.

What If Irving Gets Traded to the West?

The Lakers are sitting at +3000 and the Mavs are at +3500, and an Irving acquisition would lower those numbers instantaneously. And let’s not forget the Phoenix Suns, who have been trying to move forward Jae Crowder all season and could package him with guards Landry Shamet and Dario Šari? i to make the deal work, cap-wise, throwing in one or more first-round picks. They do not owe any picks to anyone, and new owner Mat Ishbia wants to make a splash. Phoenix is +2000, and let’s face it: The West is wide-open with just three games separating the fourth and 13th place teams.

Bottom line: Irving will be in demand, and he picked the right time to make this trade request.

Because the West is so jumbled, we have to think outside the box and take a look at a few teams that do not fit the big market mold of Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Phoenix. Irving is on an expiring contract, but he also wants to be beloved. So if he got traded to a small market, he would have that chance. Small markets love it when big-time superstars come aboard.

A few ideas:

The Sacramento Kings are +6000 to win the West and are sitting in fourth place in the West. The have a point center in Domantas Sabonis who would be in the MVP conversation if he were not playing in Sacto, along with an emerging star in point guard De’Aaron Fox. A trade of Irving for Richaun Holmes, Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter and at least one unprotected first-round pick works cap wise, and if you like it you can pounce on the Kings at +2200 to win the West.

The New Orleans Pelicans have lost 10 straight games while they await the return of Zion Williamson, and they have the Lakers’ first-round pick. If you were Pels GM David Griffin, would you surrender a boatload of some of the six picks owed by the Lakers and Bucks along with Trey Murphy, Willy Hernangomez, Dyson Daniels, Jaxson Hayes and Devonte Graham for Irving? The players ain’t all that much, but the picks restock the cupboard that Sean Marks emptied when he acquired James Harden.

The Nets need two things: Peace and picks. Marks’ job over the upcoming week is to find the best package that fulfills that need. Your job as a gambler is to think like Marks and pounce on a team with long odds that has a realistic chance to get Irving. Yes, sports gambling is fun on trade deadline week.

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Filling Lake Mead with Mississippi River Water No Longer a Pipe Dream

Despite recent rains, the water level in Lake Mead – which supplies Las Vegas with 90% of its water – was 1,046.94 feet above sea level on Feb. 2. That’s only 28% of its full capacity. And cutting water use, even drastically, may not solve the problem. Because of climate change, some estimates predict that the Colorado River may deliver only half its current amount of water by the year 2100.

Lake Mead
Lake Mead
A 22-year drought in the American Southwest is sinking Lake Mead to depths it hasn’t seen since it was filled nearly 100 years ago, exposing several long-submerged bodies boats. (Image: azcentral.com)

Pumping Mississippi River water into Lake Mead has been suggested before. But as water levels drop – threatening to eventually cut off California, Arizona and Mexico from their Colorado River water allotments – and as engineering technology advances, large-scale river diversion doesn’t seem as much of a pipe dream as it once did.

In 2021, the Arizona state legislature actually passed a measure urging Congress to investigate pumping flood water from the Mississippi to the Colorado to boost its flow. Studies show that a project like this would be possible, though it would take decades of construction and billions of dollars. Maybe even trillions.

“I think it would be foolhardy to dismiss it as not feasible,” Richard Rood, professor of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan told the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “But we need to know a lot more about it than we currently do.”

Large-scale river diversion projects have been proposed in the US since the 1960s, when an American company sought to redistribute Alaskan water across the continent using canals and reservoirs. That plan never generated enough support – a fate shared by similar proposals in Minnesota and Iowa.

Still Too Pricey … For Now

In 2012, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation performed a Colorado River Basin analysis considering several solutions to the current drought – including importing water from the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.

Under the analyzed scenario, water would be diverted to Colorado’s Front Range and areas of New Mexico. That would cost at least $1,700 per acre-feet of water, potentially yield 600,000 acre-feet of water per year by 2060, and take 30 years to construct.

A decade later, Roger Viadero, an environmental scientist and engineer at Western Illinois University, calculated that moving this scale of water would require a pipe 88 feet in diameter – twice as long as a semi trailer – or a 100-foot-wide channel that’s 61 feet deep.

“As an engineer, I can guarantee you that it is doable,” Viadero told the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “But there are tons of things that can be done but aren’t ever done.”

Viadero’s team estimated the cost of buying enough water to fill up the Colorado River’s Lake Mead and Lake Powell at more than $134 billion, assuming a penny per gallon. Add to that heavy construction costs and the costs of powering the equipment needed to pump the water over the Western Continental Divide. Buying the land to secure water rights would be very costly, too.

Politics: The Other Problem

The political hurdles are also considerable. They include wetlands protections, endangered species protections, drinking water supply considerations, and interstate shipping protections. Precedents set by other diversion attempts – such as the ones that created the Great Lakes Compact, also cast doubt over the political viability of any large-scale Mississippi River diversion attempt.

And trans-national pipelines would also impact ecological resources. Lower Mississippi River flow means less sediment carried down to Louisiana, where it’s needed for coastal restoration. Diverting that water also means spreading problems, like pollutants, excessive nutrients, and invasive species such as Asian carp.

None of this even considers the most important question: Is there even enough water to spare? The Mississippi River basin may no longer even be a reliable answer to the Colorado River basin’s problem, since the Mississippi is drying up, too. Water levels are at or below the low-water threshold along a nearly 400-mile stretch of the river. This past year, sunken boats, such as the Diamond Lady riverboat casino, are surfacing like bodies are in Lake Mead.

“No one wants to leave the western states without water,” Melissa Scanlan, a freshwater sciences professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, told the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “But moving water from one drought-impacted area to another is not a solution.”

Growing Precedent

Still, there is hope. Last year, a Kansas groundwater management agency received a permit to truck 6,000 gallons of Missouri River water into Kansas and Colorado to recharge an aquifer. Several approved diversions already drain water from the Great Lakes. And in northwestern Iowa, a river has repeatedly been pumped dry by a rural water utility that sells at least a quarter of the water outside the state. And there

In July 2022, former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed legislation investing $1.2 billion into projects that conserve water and bring more into the state. Among its provisions, the law granted Arizona’s water infrastructure finance authority to “investigate the feasibility” of potential out-of-state water import agreements.

And, as the tired adage goes, desperate times call for desperate measures. According to a two-year projection by the federal Bureau of Reclamation, by the end of July 2024, Lake Mead’s water level could fall to as low as 992 feet above sea level. That’s perilously close to dead pool (895 feet), the point when a reservoir is so low, gravity will no longer allow it to release water downstream. If and when Lake Mead hits this point, that will be dire news for downstream regions, including Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, Tucson, and Mexico.

“It’s possible that the situation gets so dire that there is an amount of money out there that could overcome all of these obstacles,” Rhett Larson, an Arizona State University professor of water law, told the Cedar Rapids Gazette. “It might be in the trillions, but it probably does exist.”

In the meantime, researchers encourage more feasible and sustainable options, such as better water conservation, water recycling, and less agricultural reliance.

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NagaWorld Union Boss Receives Global Human Rights Defender Award While Jailed in Cambodia

Cambodia has promised to take human rights more seriously, but certain actions, like the continued imprisonment of Chhim Sithar, call into question its commitment. Sithar is the leader of a union representing workers at Cambodian casino NagaWorld, and her humanitarian efforts have led to her receiving recognition from the US State Department.

NagaWorld protestors hold signs supporting jailed union leader Chhim Sithar
NagaWorld protestors hold signs supporting jailed union leader Chhim Sithar
NagaWorld protestors hold signs supporting jailed union leader Chhim Sithar. The US State Department awarded her its Human Rights Defender Award this week. (Image: Camboja News)

When thousands of NagaWorld employees began their strike in December 2021, Sithar was there. She and the workers staged their protest to try to convince NagaWorld to reinstate hundreds of employees it had let go.

Only a few weeks later, Cambodian police got involved, arresting Sithar and other union leaders for “disturbing the peace” during the peaceful demonstrations. Although they let her go, they arrested her again last November, and she remains in jail today.

Employee Crisis Becomes Human Crisis

Police re-arrested Sithar after she returned from a human rights conference in Australia. The government argued that she was on parole from the previous arrest and wasn’t allowed to leave the country.

However, when her lawyer asked for proof of the terms of her parole, the government refused to provide any documentation. It accuses her of “incitement,” and “disturbing the peace,” keeping her locked up as it determines what to do next. The maximum penalty for the charge is five years in jail.

Supporters of the protestors, as well as the US government and the United Nations (UN), have argued that Cambodia is using scare tactics to end the strike. They accuse the government of colluding with NagaCorp, the casino’s owner, to squash the strike by any means necessary.

The government has gone as far as to set up blockades to prevent workers from accessing the area of the strike. It has also frequently arrested striking workers and held them in jail cells, where the employees allege they were abused.

Cambodia asserts that the strike is illegal. This is despite the fact that it signed the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Human Rights Declaration in 2012. Among other things, the UN-led agreement specifically authorizes the right to peaceful assembly.

Since the strike began, NagaWorld has reportedly settled its dispute with 255 former employees by offering deals. However, as of last week, the remaining 118 are holding out. In addition, it doesn’t look like Cambodia plans on releasing Sithar anytime soon.

Highlighting The Hypocrisy

Cambodia asserts on one hand that it supports human rights. However, it condemns them on the other. As a result, the US State Department is hoping it can shed light on the situation. It awarded Sithar its Human Rights Defender Award this past Wednesday.

Sithar was one of 10 winners of the award. They all received recognition for their unabating desire to fight for human rights. The award goes to those who show “leadership and courage while promoting and defending human rights and fundamental freedoms; countering and exposing human rights abuses by governments and businesses,” according to the Department of State.

The Global Labor Justice-International Labor Rights Forum (GLJ-ILRF), which has been following the strike and Sithar’s treatment closely, welcomed the announcement. The executive director of the organization, Jennifer Rosenbaum, said in a statement that the GLJ-ILRF will continue to fight against the union leader’s incarceration. It will also continue to work alongside the union and the NagaWorld employees to campaign for better treatment.

Cambodia released a statement about the award, as well, although it only reinforced the government’s inadequacies toward human rights. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement that the award should be given to those who advocate for “peace, national harmony and reconciliation,” as long as they don’t do it by breaking the law. Sometimes, it’s the only way.

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Oakland A’s Eyeing Two Strip Sites for Las Vegas Move

Following another round of meetings between team officials and Las Vegas business leaders, it’s clear the Oakland Athletics are eyeing two sites on the Strip should the team move to Sin City — the fairgrounds owned by Circus Circus and the Tropicana.

A's Las Vegas
A's Las Vegas
Circus Circus Las Vegas. It’s fairgrounds could be a stadium site for the Oakland A’s. (Image: TheStreet.com)

The Major League Baseball (MLB) club has long-rumored interest in Las Vegas and it originally had a list of 20 potential sites for a new, $1 billion stadium. But that roster, as was widely believed would happen, has been whittled to two. It’s clear that land owned by Wynn Resorts on the Strip is out of the running, as a company spokesperson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal it’s not interested in a ballpark being built on that property.

That leaves the 37-acre fairgrounds and recreational vehicle (RV) park near Circus Circus and the Tropicana, which have also been epicenters of long-running MLB stadium rumors, as the A’s preferred sites.

North Strip, Downtown Operators Support A’s Move

A’s officials were in Las Vegas yesterday meeting with executives from North Strip and downtown casinos. That group is supportive of the team’s efforts to move to Las Vegas, citing benefits such as job creation and increased visits to area casino-hotels.

At issue is the point that Circus Circus owner Phil Ruffin apparently didn’t participate in the meeting, nor did he comment to the press about any talks with the A’s. The last remarks he made on the issue were late last year, indicating he hadn’t recently been in touch with officials from the team. That’s relevant because Circus Circus is considered part of the North Strip.

Conversely, Tropicana is closer to the southern end of the Strip, and Bally’s executives have confirmed recent talks with the A’s. Last year, executives from Gaming and Leisure Properties — the owner of Tropicana’s real estate — said the A’s are interested in that site.

Should the team proceed with moving to Las Vegas and select Tropicana as a stadium site, Gaming and Leisure could sell the land to the franchise while providing compensation to Bally’s.

Other Issues Surrounding A’s Las Vegas Move

While the A’s appear set on the fairgrounds or Tropicana as a stadium site, and the team has approval from MLB to move, speculation remains that the ball club is simply using Las Vegas as leverage to force Oakland policymakers to sign off on a new stadium plan in the Bay Area. That theory isn’t a stretch when considering Oakland already lost the NFL’s Raiders to Las Vegas.

There are other moving parts. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred agreed to waive the A’s relocation fee. But he and the team want some public financing for a Las Vegas stadium — something voters may be loathe to support.

Waiting on an expansion team could take years and be far more expensive than simply building a stadium for the A’s in Las Vegas. As Circa CEO Derek Stevens told the Review-Journal, an expansion franchise could cost up to $2 billion, and that doesn’t include the price of a new ballpark.

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