Iconic Las Vegas Sands Corp Mulling Over Their Sports Betting Options
The Las Vegas Sands Corporation may be throwing their hat in the sports betting arena. This is in stark contrast to CEO Sheldon Adelson’s original position on sports betting.
According to Forbes, Adelson, the 28th richest person in the world, purchased the iconic Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las Vegas strip in 1988. Frank Sinatra and the rest of the ‘Rat Pack’ held court at the casino’s lounge weekly.
Adleson took the fading casino and turned it into a multi-billion dollar corporation, with holdings all over the world. According to Bloomberg’s new reporting, Adelson has been having a change of heart when it comes to the booming sports betting industry.
The acting CEO of the Sands Corporation is Rob Goldstein, who oversees the company’s daily operations. According to an anonymous source that talked to Bloomberg, Goldstein and Adleson, 87, are currently in talks with sports betting providers.
Sands Corporation May Develop Their Own Sportsbook
The source indicated that the Sands Corporation team might, in the end, develop their own sports betting platform. If they do indeed have their own sportsbook, it would be the biggest in the sports betting industry.
The Sands Corporation also owns and operates the Venetian Hotel and Casino, who issued a statement last week regarding Adleson’s health issues. He has taken a leave of absence as he continues to do battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Goldstein and ‘other Sands team members will be finalizing their sports betting endeavors in the coming weeks, the source added. Adleson in the past publicly stated that he was not in favor of sports betting, or any type of gaming that can be done online. He was of the opinion that such things have a higher chance of becoming an addiction for those that engage in it and Adleson has been a huge backer of the non-profit group, ‘Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG).
Although Adleson has been opposed to sports betting for several years, he has permitted the Sands team to continue to seek sports betting opportunities. Adleson was very heavily opposed to all internet gaming prior to the Supreme Court overturning a ban on sports betting in 2018. The source said as the industry has continued to prosper, Adelson has softened his tone quite a bit; the profit involved in the industry is just too high for Adleson to ignore.
The Venetian has a partnership with William Hill sportsbook, with a kiosk located in the casino on the Las Vegas strip. The Sands Corporation is the only major US casino that does not have an online sportsbook presence.
Adelson’s Vegas competitors MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment have partnered with sportsbooks and profited heavily from the new industry. Sources believe, “seeing his competitors profiting so much, while he sat on the sidelines may have been enough for him to see the writing on the walls.”
Sports betting experts said Sands Corp is a little late to the game and may decide to partner up with an existing sportsbook in the interest of saving time. However, the ball is entirely in their court, and analysts are expecting to see Sands Corp advancing in the sports betting world very soon.
