Las Vegas Sands is one of the mainstays of the gambling scene in town. From the Venetian to the Palazzo, LVS-owned casinos are amongst the most popular in Sin City. They are usually bustling with gamblers rolling those bones and spinning those reels.
For much of 2020, though, Las Vegas Sands’ resorts have fallen silent. The impact of COVID-19 has damaged the land-based casino gaming industry across the country and the loss of revenue has hit some hard, with players flocking to the good internet USA casinos instead. Now, Sheldon Adelson may be exploring the possibility of letting these iconic casinos go.
Adios to The Venetian?
Adelson is reportedly considering selling up and that may include the famed Palazzo and Venetian casinos for a cool $6 billion. Las Vegas Sands has a rumored market value of $37.5 billion, but over the last few years, it is Adelson’s Asian empire which has generated over 60% of the revenue for the company – not Sin City. The relatively milder impact of COVID-19 in Asia has seen revenues from Macau continue to stream in from the Far East (to a degree) while the money well in the Nevadan desert seems to have tried up – at least for now.
Should Adelson decide that the famed Las Vegas Sands casinos are to be sold, he could encounter trouble finding a buyer, even for his “modest” $6 billion price tag.
Wynn’s Asian Interests Pose Problems for LVS
Ordinarily, there would be an ample supply of buyers eager to purchase casinos with the history and renown that the Venetian and Palazzo have. The Sands Expo Convention Centre would also make for an ideal acquisition for the right sort of mogul. However, there is a problem – Las Vegas Sands may not find many fish biting. Many top casino companies are in a similar position to Las Vegas Sands.
Wynn Resorts is one of the few major businesses who would have the financial backing to snap up LVS’ properties. However, at this moment in time, Wynn Resorts are also heavily invested in Asia. If Adelson wants to raise the $2.2 billion that he is planning to invest in Sands Macau, or continue investment in Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, he will likely need to turn to another buyer or dip into his estimated fortune of $30 billion.
MGM Is Looking Towards an Online Future
MGM Resorts is likely to be another company where Las Vegas Sands may fancy testing the waters. However, there is every chance that MGM will be uninterested, too. MGM, like Caesars Entertainment, is currently invested in other projects – namely online gambling. While these projects will not set either MGM or Caesars back a large chunk of change, their own Vegas-based casinos are suffering at the same time. Neither is likely to want to invest in taking on more empty casinos at this time.
It remains to be seen what Las Vegas Sands plans on doing. While Marina Bay Sands and Sands Macau have a rosy future, it does look as though we could very well be seeing the end of Las Vegas Sands.