Las Vegas Sands explores online gambling opportunities
New CEO Rob Goldstein reveals digital ambitions and details ethical concerns raised by Sheldon Adelson
Newly appointed Las Vegas Sands (LVS) chairman and CEO Rob Goldstein has admitted the operator is exploring opportunities to expand its business into online gambling for the first time.
In an analyst call outlining the firm’s Q4 2020 results, Goldstein, who was appointed CEO of LVS after the death of long-time CEO and founder Sheldon Adelson earlier this month, suggested the business was looking at a “multitude of opportunities” in both the US and other regional markets.
“Yes we’ve looked at digital and it’s interesting, you can’t deny what’s happened in digital is quite a thing,” Goldstein explained.
“Right now, we are exploring opportunities, looking at what might be out there, but with a caveat to that to say there’s nothing to report today. There’s nothing concrete.
“We’re not leaving the US, it’s where we want to build it. We’ve been all over the map looking at different markets. So yes, digital is one of a multitude of considerations. We are learning and observing and talking to people,” Goldstein added.
The admission comes after speculation that the firm, which operates casino properties in the US as well as the Asian gaming hub of Macau, could follow rivals Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts in targeting international online operators via M&A.
LVS previously opposed expansion into online gambling on Adelson’s watch. He famously fronted the Restoration of America’s Wire Act campaign, aiming to restore a prior US government prohibition on online gambling.
However, Goldstein dismissed claims that embracing digital was due to the absence of the LVS founder from the firm’s decision-making process.
“Sheldon understood digital, maybe too well before I did, and he believed in it,” he explained.
“He just simply had this outsized ethical concern about people who couldn’t afford it or people that were too young to use it, he wasn’t a believer in the technology that could stop that.
“He never questioned the viability of it. He questioned the ability to police it properly. It was an ethical consideration to Sheldon,” Goldstein added.
Adelson passed away earlier this month from Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, bringing to an end a 30-year tenure at the helm of the firm.
“We’ve had this discussion prior to his passing and we are going to explore it. We are in the making-money business,” said Goldstein. “If there’s a way to make money, it’s intelligent and prudent to do so and I’ve no doubt Sheldon would tell us to be laser-focused on growth.”
In its Q4 financial results, LVS reported a 67.3% decrease in net revenue, which fell to $1.15bn amid an operating loss of $211m. At a full-year 2020 level, operating losses amounted to $1.69bn.