Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS), the parent company of Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands and Macau concessionaire Sands China Ltd, will shut down its fledgling online gaming arm, citing a lack of alignment with the company’s core objectives.
According to a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal – which is also owned by the Adelson family – LVS will instead focus all energies on its existing land-based assets in Asia, as per comments from President and COO Patrick Dumont.
The move comes after LVS established in 2021 a digital gaming investment team with the goal of strategic investor in digital gaming technologies, primarily focused in the B2B space.
Nine months later, in March 2022, the company established Sands Digital Services with a view to offering a live dealer streaming platform to operators in licensed jurisdictions.
LVS also confirmed in 2022 an investment into a firm called Huddle Tech Inc – a provider of advanced automated solutions for trading, odds feeds and risk management for iGaming operators. It is unclear whether the decision to shut down Sands Digital Services impacts its Huddle Tech interest.
Nonetheless, the company’s online gaming arm has, the Las Vegas Review-Journal report states, since grown to between 300 and 400 employees of which around 150 are based in Las Vegas.
In a letter sent to impacted staff last week, Dumont said, “As has always been the entrepreneurial approach of our company, investments in Sands Digital Services were made with the understanding there would be multiple points in the process where we would assess the most pragmatic path forward.
“Ultimately, we reached a moment in which it was clear to executive leadership and our board of directors that further pursuit of this business was no longer aligned with the company’s core long-term objectives.”
LVS’s initial move into the online gaming space – taken after it sold The Venetian Las Vegas and associated assets for US$6.25 billion – was always seen as surprising by some given company founder Sheldon Adelson’s renowned opposition to the vertical.
Chairman and CEO Rob Goldstein stated at the time that LVS was “determined to grow its leadership position within the industry and is committed to doing that through strategic steps we think best position the company for future growth.”
However, Dumont explained in his 2 October letter to staff that LVS would instead direct its entire focus towards its Singapore and Macau operations in the wake of its iGaming foray.
“The digital landscape continues to evolve, and technology and innovation will continue to play an important role in our industry. As a company, we will continue to explore and invest in opportunities that are in the best interests of our shareholders,” he said.
“Overall, we remain very fortunate to operate in the two best markets in our industry. Over the past two decades we have set the standard for the investments we have made in our land-based portfolio of properties and the elite level of customer service we have provided our guests.”
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