Zona de Azar USA – Las Vegas Sands’ Casino Expansion Bid in Texas Faces Setback Once Again

USA.- May 18th 2023 www.zonadeazar.com Casino legalization efforts in Texas backed by the Las Vegas Sands ended last week with the same losing result the company has seen going back to 2007.

The company had wanted lawmakers to approve a measure allowing voters to consider a ballot question in November that called for one Las Vegas-style casino resort in each of the state’s four major metropolitan markets. Legislative leaders said they didn’t have enough votes to advance the measure out of the state House.

There was also the matter of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the fervent anti-gaming expansion Republican who oversees the state Senate.

“I’ve said repeatedly there is little to no support for expanding gaming from Senate GOP,” Patrick wrote on Twitter in a statement released by his office. “I polled members this week. Nothing changed. The senate must focus on issues voters expect us to pass. We don’t waste time on bills without overwhelming GOP support.”

Going into the state’s 2023 biennial 140-day session, this year seemed different for Las Vegas Sands, which has spent millions of dollars in the last 16 years on casino expansion efforts, including costs for lobbying and marketing programs.

In January, the Dallas Morning News said Las Vegas Sands brought on 63 lobbyists for the 2023 session with a mandate to spend up to $5.9 million. The newspaper cited data from the Texas Ethics Commission.

Sands formed a political action committee, Texas Sands PAC, that contributed $2.2 million to statewide officials and dozens of lawmakers from both parties during the 2022 campaign. Also, a study undertaken by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs that found 75 percent of Texans support casino legislation.

In the end, none of those efforts mattered for Sands, which no longer has casino operations in Las Vegas and is focusing on earning one of three available New York City-area gaming licenses. Sands also operates resorts in Macau and Singapore.

In a statement to the Texas Tribune Friday, Las Vegas Sands Senior Vice President of Government Relations Andy Abboud, who has overseen all the company’s Texas casino legalization tries, remained optimistic.

Edited by: @MaiaDigital www.zonadeazar.com