In a break from its long-held opposition to online gambling and American land-based casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corporation has recently disclosed that it intends to ‘become a strategic investor in digital gaming technologies.’

The Las Vegas-headquartered firm used an official Monday press release to state that it will be building ‘a digital gaming investment team’ that is to be ‘focused primarily in the business-to-business space

‘The company moreover divulged that its fresh online gaming endeavor will be led by Davis Catlin, who recently joined its ranks after 14 years with independent private investments specialist Sands Capital Management.

Seasoned specialist:

Robert Goldstein serves as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for Las Vegas Sands Corporation and he used the press release to explain that Catlin has been leading his previous employer’s private and public digital gaming efforts for the past decade. However, he declared that the doyen is to now be tasked with providing the casino firm with ‘meaningful opportunities to make investments’ in hopes of being able to ‘generate significant long-term benefits for the company.’

Read a statement from Goldstein…

“Las Vegas Sands Corporation is determined to grow its leadership position within the industry and is committed to doing that through strategic steps we think best position the company for future growth. Digital gaming and other related offerings are still very much in the early stages of development and we believe there is an outstanding opportunity for us to invest in the technologies being developed.”

Opening opportunities:

In its report on the matter and The Nevada Independent newspaper detailed that the move from Las Vegas Sands Corporation comes as legalized online sportsbetting is available in more than 15 American states following the 2018 invalidation of the previous partial prohibition contained within the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA). The source also asserted that real-money online casino gaming is currently legal in five American jurisdictions with both of these clubs soon likely to be expanded as jurisdictions look for new and novel ways to fill coronavirus-sized holes in their annual budget deficits.

Ardent antagonism:

The newspaper reported that Las Vegas Sands Corporation’s latest endeavor is nevertheless surprising as the company’s late founder, Sheldon Adelson, was known to have been a fervent opponent of legalized online gambling. The billionaire businessman purportedly spent millions of dollars over the years in hopes of being able to quash the threat of iGaming although he passed away in January at the age of 87 following a fight against non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Shrinking size:

The Nevada Independent reported that Las Vegas Sands Corporation’s journey towards iGaming acceptance furthermore comes some four months after the company inked a $6.25 billion deal to sell off its The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino as well as that venue’s 3,000-room The Palazzo hotel. This arrangement will purportedly see the Nevada firm exit the American casino market altogether to leave it reliant on its remaining properties in the Asian gambling hotspots of Macau and Singapore.