Monthly Archives: June 2019

Agua Caliente Band Of Cahuilla Indians To Build Palm Springs Arena

THE AGUA CALIENTE BAND OF CAHUILLA INDIANS, OAK VIEW GROUP ANNOUNCE AGREEMENT TO BUILD STATE-OF-THE-ART SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT ARENA IN DOWNTOWN PALM SPRINGS

The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, a federally recognized Indian Tribe, and Oak View Group (OVG), the global venue development, advisory, and investment company for the sports and live entertainment industries, today announced its partnership to build a new state-of-the-art privately financed sports and entertainment arena on Agua Caliente land in downtown Palm Springs.

Live Nation Entertainment, the world’s leading live entertainment company, has signed on as a strategic partner to supply the new arena with its large stable of top touring artists and premium live events. Additionally, NHL Seattle, led by owner David Bonderman, and OVG have jointly submitted an application for the 32nd AHL Franchise expansion team, which, if awarded, would play in the new arena in Palm Springs for the fall of 2021.

Located on 16 acres of tribal land, the arena will be more than 300,000 square feet and feature as many as 10,000 seats or more and include modern amenities such as suites and premium hospitality clubs. The arena will include an adjoining facility that will serve as a year-round community gathering space as well as the training center for an AHL team.

“This is a unique partnership that will forever change the face of sports and entertainment in Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley,” Tribal Chairman Jeff L. Grubbe says. “We are creating a healthy community gathering place for Coachella Valley families and visitors from around the world to celebrate, play and experience diverse entertainment opportunities in a state-of-the-art arena.”

This project adds to the excitement already being generated by the ongoing construction of the Tribe’s Agua Caliente Cultural Center in downtown Palm Springs, which features a new state-of-the-art museum and world-class spa opening in 2020. Add to that the future construction of the Tribe’s third casino in nearby Cathedral City expected to break ground in the near future.

The arena will be built for conventions, large meetings, international events, as well as award shows and exhibitions. Privately funded at no risk to the City of Palm Springs or taxpayers, the news comes as OVG is in the midst of a building boom. In the past 24 months, OVG has announced the development of venues in Seattle, Belmont Park in Elmont New York, the University of Texas in Austin, the new Winter Olympic 2026 venue in Milan, and now Palm Springs.

Construction of the new arena in Palm Springs is expected to create thousands of permanent and temporary jobs for the community. Groundbreaking and construction are scheduled for February 2020. The arena is expected to open by fall 2021 in coordination with the Seattle NHL franchise for the 2021-2022 AHL season. Oak View Group is currently leading and financing a $900 million-plus project at Seattle’s KeyArena that, when completed in 2021, will be home to Seattle’s NHL team.

“With each venue, we’ve had the privilege of building and managing, Oak View Group has consistently continued to raise the industry standard, and the arena in Palm Springs will be no exception,” said Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group. “We look forward to working with Agua Caliente to build what we consider to be one of the most premiere music and professional sports arenas in the world.”

“The new arena in downtown Palm Springs is a terrific project. If we are successful with our application for an AHL Franchise, it would represent an exciting opportunity to bring the first professional hockey team to this region,” said Tod Leiweke, CEO of NHL Seattle. “We are confident that the market is ready to embrace a winter sports team and that the community will help us achieve the minimum level of season tickets and premium sales we need.”

“We’re pleased to be able to partner with Oak View Group and Agua Caliente for this new state-of-the-art arena and look forward to bringing in top touring artists and live events to the valley for years to come,” said Bob Roux, President, US Concerts, Live Nation Entertainment.

With a focus on the prioritization of technology, sustainability, and green initiatives, the world-class arena will be built for music and host the best and biggest names in the music industry on an annual basis, as well as serve as a home for artists to rehearse before the start of their respective tours.

UFC Fight Night Minneapolis betting preview

If we are being honest, some UFC Fight Night cards are rather weak because there are only so many quality fighters in the organization and they can’t fight once a month. Most top UFC guys fight no more than three times a year. It’s an incredibly dangerous sport, so guys shouldn’t be in the Octagon too often.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

All that said, this Saturday’s UFC Fight Night headliner from the Target Center in Minneapolis is one of the best we may see all year outside of a main UFC event. It features rising star and top heavyweight contender Francis Ngannou against former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos. Ngannou is a -260 favorite with dos Santos priced at +200.

Well, that’s if the fight actually happens. The two were originally to fight at UFC 215, but dos Santos was pulled from the card due to a potential doping violation. They were scheduled to fight again at UFC 239 but moved to this card as the headliner after the original main event, a welterweight fight between Tyron Woodley and Robbie Lawler, was scrapped due to a Woodley injury. Got all that?

Capitalism is killing the UCL; Neymar appeal upheld; Mané medal swap

The UEFA Champions League may be making a cracking impression of a dormant volcano, but that doesn’t stop us talking about it – diversity index report from PlayTheGame, Neymar ban upheld and Sadio Mané chooses country over his club.

A nifty piece of work by PlayTheGame.org reveals that capitalism is killing the grassroots of football with the best in Europe continuing to eat caviar filled vol-au-vents with the rest settling for the black bits and pieces found at the bottom of a toaster.

The Diversity Index is PlayTheGame’s way of monitoring the divergent nature of admittance to UEFA’s Champions League (UCL), the most lucrative club competition this side of the flies hanging around the body keeping the door ajar a few metres from me.

Europe’s Big Five League’s all saw familiar faces leading the caravan of clubs trying to squeeze into the gates of the UCL this year, with Manchester City, Bayern Munich, Juventus, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain all retaining their titles, along with 23 other clubs across European leagues.

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh Goes Live with BetRivers.com

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh, along with sports betting provider, Rush Street Interactive, today launched Rush Street’s second online and mobile sportsbook for Pennsylvania—called BetRivers.com.

This is a first for Pittsburgh and for Western Pennsylvania. Fans of Rivers’ popular in-casino sportsbook can now take that same action on location via mobile devices, laptops and desktops. Bettors need only visit BetRivers.com to register.

Registration can be completed anywhere—inside or outside Pennsylvania. As such, users need not be inside the casino to set up an account. To wager, bettors simply must be physically located within the state of Pennsylvania and at least 21 years old.

BetRivers.com will kick off its two-day test period starting Tuesday, June 25, from 4 p.m. to midnight, and Wednesday, June 26, from 2 p.m. to midnight. All bets placed during the test are real-money wagers, with complete features and options available—the only difference being limited hours of operation. Pending review and approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, 24/7 online and mobile wagering at BetRivers.com will commence immediately thereafter.

“This summer marks Rivers Casino Pittsburgh’s tenth anniversary,” said Bill Keena, Rivers Casino general manager. “We’re celebrating one decade while planning ahead for the next. Full-service online, mobile and in-casino sportsbooks are where the industry is headed, and thanks to our Team Members, we’re already there.”

All sports and all wagering types available at the in-casino sportsbook are available at BetRivers.com. Millions of betting options on thousands of games—locally and around the world—will be at bettors’ fingertips, with an intuitive customer interface similar to the self-service kiosks on property.

On laptops and desktops, players just visit BetRivers.com to get started. Android users must also visit the website on their mobile devices and download the app to wager. For now, Apple users can register using their mobile devices but will need to wager via laptop or desktop computer. Betting from iPhones and iPads should be available soon.

“It’s an exciting time for Pennsylvania sports fans,” said Richard Schwartz, president of Rush Street Interactive. “With NFL preseason just a month away, game days this fall will be next-level.”

Rivers Casino Pittsburgh’s digital and in-casino sports wagering operator is Rush Street Interactive PA, LLC, (RSI) and its affiliates. RSI operates BetRivers.com along with Pennsylvania’s first online and mobile sportsbook, PlaySugarHouse.com. RSI has generated over 50% of all retail sports betting in Pennsylvania since the market opened in November. Rivers Casino Pittsburgh and SugarHouse Casino Philadelphia are the top-performing sportsbooks in Pennsylvania, respectively.

CryptoCasino.com Launches on the FunFair Blockchain Platform

FunFair Technologies Logo

CryptoCasino.com, managed by affiliate RakeTheRake, has today launched as a licensed white label on FunFair Technologies’ leading blockchain casino platform.

FunFair’s first external white label, CryptoCasino.com is now well set to tap into the rapidly growing millennial blockchain casino audience. The sector has already seen the equivalent of a billion dollars wagered in 2019 alone.

The sought-after brand will also gain instant access to FunFair’s audience of 65,000 FUN token holders, along with its own vast player base cultivated over years of running its world-leading affiliate program.

Crypto Casino is RakeTheRake’s first foray into both the online casino space and blockchain, demonstrating how FunFair’s low-cost, easy-to-integrate platform can offer those, who may have previously been deterred, to launch a successful casino operation.

Showcasing FunFair’s proprietary Guaranteed Fair technology and a burgeoning games portfolio that rivals traditional offerings, CryptoCasino, is set to further raise the standard of blockchain gaming.

Karim Wilkins, Founder and CEO at RakeTheRake, said: “Becoming FunFair’s first white label with Crypto Casino gives us great satisfaction. We’re extremely confident in our brand, the platform and the innovative affiliate technology, and we can’t wait to take CryptoCasino and its players to the moon.”

Jez San, Co-Founder at FunFair, said: “Crypto Casino’s launch is a major landmark on the FunFair roadmap and we’re excited to partner with expert marketeers in RakeTheRake who will drive further adoption to our gaming ecosystem.

“We continue to update our platform to ensure it’s as user-friendly for those with and without crypto knowledge and working on the next steps with RakeTheRake and its Crypto Casino players will confirm our position as the leading blockchain gaming provider.”

Cryptocasino.com is now live and available to play at those in accepted countries, with a limited time sign up offer of $60’s worth of FUN available to new players to celebrate the launch.