Las Vegas Sands president says digital project was not a “good use” of shareholder capital
Patrick Dumont explains the rationale behind the Las Vegas giant’s decision to abandon its pivot to igaming, in a move that could result in up to 400 job cuts
Las Vegas Sands (LVS) president and COO Patrick Dumont has offered an explanation as to why the company abandoned its digital gaming project.
Earlier this month, the operator confirmed it was shuttering its initiative, Sands Digital Services, which would have offered live gambling from streamed dealers at LVS properties.
Instead, LVS announced its intention to focus efforts on market opportunities in Asian markets, namely Macao and Singapore.
The shutdown of the igaming project could come at the expense of up to 400 jobs, with approximately 150 of them currently held by Las Vegas workers.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported in early October that a letter sent to staff by Dumont noted that the digital push was “no longer aligned with the company’s core long-term objectives.”
Speaking on Las Vegas Sands’ Q3 analyst call yesterday, October 22, Dumont elaborated further on the decision.
He said: “We looked at this for a couple of years. We just didn’t feel like there was something that we felt would be a good use of shareholder capital, so we shut it down.
“In terms of cost save, I think it’s things that all come out of development expense that you would have seen in the last year, but that’s out now. It wasn’t super material.”
LVS first ventured into the online gambling space in 2021, creating a separate business entity which was designed to invest in igaming businesses.
In April 2022, the operator made an undisclosed investment into betting monitoring platform US Integrity.
In July of the same year, LVS continued to build its igaming portfolio with an investment into sports betting and online casino supplier Huddle Tech, which reports at the time claimed could be worth $15m.