Report: Las Vegas Sands Ends Digital Gaming Project

Las Vegas Sands Corporation has opted to shutter its digital gaming project, instead focusing its efforts on international land-based casino operations.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal was the first to report the decision, which has the potential to impact 150 Las Vegas-based workers and up to 400 overall. The Sands Digital Project (SDS) was designed to offer live dealers in markets where online casino gaming is legal, but executive officers at Las Vegas Sands could not make the pieces fit as part of its overall structure.

“As has always been the entrepreneurial approach of our company, investments in SDS were made with the understanding there would be multiple points in the process where we would assess the most pragmatic path forward,” Sands President and Chief Operating Officer Patrick Dumont said in a letter to affected employees and senior management obtained by the newspaper.

“Ultimately, we reached a moment in which it was clear to executive leadership and our board of directors that further pursuit of this business was no longer aligned with the company’s core long-term objectives,” he said.

Sands still gun shy on iGaming

The Las Vegas Sands Corporation has been arguably the largest gambling operator with hesitancy when it comes to internet casino offerings, a stance that dates to late founder Sheldon Adelson. Sands cited the potential legalization of iGaming as a reason for dropping out of the downstate New York casino licensing process earlier this year.

According to the Earnings + More substack, Sands invested approximately $266 million into its digital project spanning 2023 and 2024. It reported the gaming company ultimately reached the conclusion that competing with Evolution, a leading provider of online casino gaming technology — as well as the regulatory risk of expanding into internet casino gaming — did not provide a strong enough return on investment.

A source told Earnings + More that Sands had built a Bulgaria-based studio for live dealers and potentially a 40-second marble racing game before choosing to shut down the project.

With its digital project now binned, Sands is expected to focus on its international properties in Macao and Singapore, venues that Dumont in the letter called “the two best markets in our industry.”

“Over the past two decades we have set the standard for the investments we have made in our land-based portfolio of properties and the elite level of customer service we have provided our guests,” he wrote.

“Overall, we remain very fortunate to operate in the two best markets in our industry. Over the past two decades we have set the standard for the investments we have made in our land-based portfolio of properties and the elite level of customer service we have provided our guests.”