Las Vegas Sands Corp. is dropping efforts to develop a New York casino, partly over concerns that online betting in the state would crimp results for a land-based property.
The company announced the decision on a call with investors Wednesday, saying it’s in the process of seeking an agreement with a third party that’s interested in bidding for a casino license on the proposed site.
One of the world’s biggest casino operators, Sands had proposed a project costing upward of $5 billion at the site of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on New York’s Long Island. Construction of such a project could take years. The company operates resorts in Macau and Singapore.
The state is considering three new casinos in the New York City area, and numerous parties have expressed interest, including Caesars Entertainment Inc., Wynn Resorts Ltd. and Mets owner Steve Cohen. Applications are due in June, with a final decision expected by December, according to the New York State Gaming Facility Location Board.
New York has become the top market for sports betting, most of which is done online. The state doesn’t yet allow online wagers on casino games like blackjack and slot machines. But results for land-based casinos have been hurt in states that do, such as Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The Adelson family, which controls Sands, acquired a majority of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and has been interested in a casino in Texas if that state were to legalize such betting.
Earlier Wednesday, the company announced it is increasing authorized share repurchases to $2 billion from the $1.1 billion remaining under a previous plan. The company also reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.14 billion before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, in line with Wall Street estimates. Adjusted earnings per share were 59 cents, compared with Wall Street estimates of 57 cents. Revenue fell 3.3% to $2.86 billion.
