After legalizing and launching mobile sports betting, New York surpassed markets that have operated for years, bringing record handle and revenues. Amid the growth of the popularity of mobile wagering, lawmakers in the state proposed expansion for the retail gambling sector. Earlier this year, New York lawmakers approved a plan that proposes the creation of up to three new downstate casinos. The proposed locations include Westchester County, New York City, as well as Long Island.

Identifying the potential of the market, many leading gaming companies have already joined the race for a downstate casino license. Las Vegas Sands (LVS), the leading developer and operator of integrated resorts, is one of the companies that joined the race for a New York casino license.

Rob Goldstein, LVS’ CEO, discussed the company’s latest financial results at an earnings call last week. At the time, he spoke about strong Q3 financial results and reaffirmed LVS’ plans to pursue a license in New York. The area where the company anticipates building an integrated resort in Nassau County. Overall, LVS plans to use nearly 100 acres for its new resort and that area includes the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

New York Casino Resort Represents a $5bn Investment

Goldstein explained: “We have secured the Nassau Colisino and the process of gaining necessary selling requirements to move forward.” He revealed that the local community supports the company’s project and hinted that the new integrated resort may cost north of $5 billion. Still, Goldstein said that this billion-dollar investment enables the company to deliver supreme entertainment and amenities. Finally, he acknowledged that the project represents a unique opportunity for LVS.

“The resort will cost in excess of $5 billion, but enables us to develop a five-star resort with unlimited appeal. This is simply an extraordinary opportunity.“

Rob Goldstein, CEO at Las Vegas Sands

Patrick Dumont, LVS’ president and COO, also participated in the recent discussion. Speaking about the company’s cash flow, he outlined that LVS is “sitting at about $5.6 billion worth of cash systemwide.”

“We’ll be able to do our concession commitment to Macao and then we’ll have excess capital and we’ll pursue New York, and we’re going to pursue other growth opportunities in new jurisdictions, and we’ll be able to do it all because of the timing of the cash flow, the cash we have on hand and the cash tentative nature of our assets.“

Patrick Dumont, president and COO at LVS

Dumont praised LVS’ operations in Singapore and Macau, explaining they continuously generate cash. Considering the current cash flow, he predicted that the company would be able to continue to invest in its Macau operations while at the same time proceeding with the casino license bid in New York. Dumont did not rule out further investments and pursuing opportunities in emerging markets.

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Developer and operator of casino resorts around the world, Las Vegas Sands (LVS), outlined what progress the business registered on its environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives set out for the 2021-2025 period in its 2022 (ESG) report.

The 2022 ESG report tracks the progress on the ambitious goals LVS has set out for its performance by 2025, striving to reach certain targets based on three pillars – People, Communities and Planet.

“We set targets that push the company to achieve tangible results, and the work we have outlined toward these ambitions has put us on a solid track to reach our goals,” commented Katarina Tesarova, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer of LVS, pointing to a “full range of core priorities” under these three pillars “that have also produced significant impact” and are reflected in the report.

Workforce Development

Sands’ corporate responsibility program through 2025 seeks to invest $200 million in workforce development initiatives, and in 2022, the hospitality operator invested $56 million to reach a total of $113 million since the start of the program in 2021.

Money invested in People in 2022 supported core initiatives aimed at advancing team members and local talents such as the Sands Academy Team Member training and development program and the Sands China financial support, invitational matching, and training and development (F.I.T.) program for small and medium enterprises.

Volunteer Work for Communities

Under the Community pillar in 2022, Sands exceeded the target set out for 2025 by reaching 192,330 Team Member volunteer hours contribution to date. Contributions included extensive volunteer support for Macau initiatives related to the pandemic such as community testing and vaccinations.

The target set for the end of the five-year program is 150,000 volunteer hours in support of local communities and having reached it in 2022, the company plans to set a new 2025 target this year and will reveal the new target in its 2023 ESG report.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Energy Use Reduction

Using its 2018 greenhouse gas emissions reduction level of 17,5% as a baseline for its 2025 emissions reduction goal, Sands reported that its emissions remained significantly below the baseline in 2022, achieving a 50% reduction.

Sands implemented numerous emissions reduction projects while its property visitations were impacted by the pandemic to ensure the business remains on track to meet its 2025 target when visitations are expected to pick up and the business is expected to increase energy consumption.

In 2022, energy use was reduced via the installation of property controls across 3,300 hotel rooms which allowed the consumption to be reduced while guests are away, and the shift from hard-to-convert incandescent and fluorescent lighting to LED solutions.

In addition, the company purchased 151,000 megawatt hours of renewable energy certificates and generated an additional 235 megawatt hours from solar panels, while Sands properties began transitioning their fleets to electric vehicles.

Sands’ ESG achievements in 2022 were recognized on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) World for a third consecutive year and the DJSI North America for the seventh time, while Sands China appeared on the DJSI World for the first time and the DJSI Asia Pacific for the second.

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