In an official announcement, Sands stated: “For Las Vegas Sands, we believe the highest and best use of our capital in the near term is to purchase Las Vegas Sands and Sands China shares. Accordingly, Sands has decided not to bid for a casino license in New York.”
President and COO Patrick Dumont said: “We strongly believe in the development opportunity for land based downstate casino license in New York. We also continue to believe that the Nassau Coliseum site is the best location for that development opportunity and should be highly competitive in the New York casino licensing process.
“However, as we have previously stated, the company remains concerned about the impact of potential legalization of iGaming on the overall market opportunity and project returns. We are in the process of attempting to secure an agreement with a third party to whom we can transact the opportunity to bid for a casino license on the NASCAR Coliseum site. This would include those that may be able to address both land based and digital markets in New York. For Las Vegas Sands, we believe the highest and best use of our capital in the near term is to purchase LVS and SCL shares. Accordingly, LVS has decided not to bid for casino license in New York.”
The project had been backed by Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman.
Chris Boyle, Director of Communications for Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, said: “Nassau County will crystallize within the next 30 days whether or not to entertain a casino component or develop the site without. In either event there will be an exciting new development that will create jobs and positive economic activity.”
Sands had been hoping to build the third biggest casino in the US if it had won approval to develop the 72-acre site into the Mitchel Field Integrated Resort District around Nassau Coliseum. The proposed square footage for the Sands New York casino had been detailed as 396,726, meaning it would only be smaller than WinStar World Casino & Resort in Oklahoma and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.
Rob Goldstein, CEO of Las Vegas Sands, has previously said he was disappointed in the delay in the casino-licensing process in New York.
“We’re very disappointed by New York. We’ve been working there for a long time and we thought it would happen in 2024. Now, they’re saying 2025 or 2026. We don’t have any clarity and to be honest, it’s confusing and disappointing. We’ve put a lot of time and work into New York, but I have no guidance. We wish they’d figure it out and let us know. We’ll remain hopeful that things turn around there,” Goldstein said.
In March, the New York Gaming Commission said the winners of the tender for the three downstate, land-based casinos in New York wouldn’t be announced until the end of next year.
Source: G3 Newswire
