Las Vegas Sands Corp Drops Florida Expansion To Focus On Georgia

Las Vegas Sands Corp is one of the biggest and most popular casino brands across the world and are led by their chairman and billionaire Sheldon Adelson. Adelson has campaigned hard for the last six years to sway legislation in his favour in South Florida so that that Las Vegas Sands Corp could construct a mega-casino resort.

The process of securing a casino license in the United States is a long drawn out process and the Las Vegas Sands Corp has been very patient over the last six years because it believed that Florida has a lucrative gaming market and would be very profitable for the casino down the line.

The company recently announced that it had decided to scrap its plans in South Florida and instead focus its attention on Georgia, which appears to be very close in legalizing the casino industry and the Las Vegas Sands Corp wants to be first in line to secure a license and capture market share in Georgia.

Florida legislators meet for six months every two years to decide on the future of the casino industry and based on recent reports it did not appear very likely that Florida would grant the Las Vegas Sands Corp a license anytime in the near future. There are also a number of other establishments such as Genting Berhad, Boyd Gaming Corp, MGM Resorts International, Resorts World and Wynn Resorts who are also trying to obtain a license in Florida.

Andy Abboud, senior vice president of government relations for the Las Vegas Sands Corp stated that Florida’s casino industry was currently dominated by the Seminole Indian Tribe which operates seven tribal casinos and are opposed to any commercial casinos. In a statement, Abboud said

There are so many challenges on the legislative front and the state has challenges passing budgets. But the negotiations with the Seminoles drive everything.

They pretty much dominate the landscape. It’s not going to happen. There is no need to continue to pitch. Maybe we’ll come back another day. I believe we created some good will.

Georgia recently announced that they were considering passing laws that would allow casinos to operate within the state. Initial discussions suggest that there is a possibility for a mega-casino resort in Atlanta and scope for another five casinos at a smaller scale spread across the state. Sheldon Adelson has already visited Georgia to hold discussions with senior lawmakers and express Las Vegas Sands Corp’s interested to build a mega-casino resort in the state.