Where will LVS' next new gaming IR-casino be | LVS, Gaming, & Transocean Forum

Where will LVS' next new gaming IR-casino be May 20, 2024 6:46:10 GMT -5 birdnest likes this

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Post by Blitz on May 20, 2024 6:46:10 GMT -5

Where will LVS expand next? It seems to me that LVS' stock needs something to invigorate its multiple. Moribund management seems content to let LVS languish. Miriam bot a basketball with Cuban as a tutor to give her kids something to do... after she sells out?

Speaking of selling out... To me, LVS' last major move - selling out of Vegas - was selling the wrong place at the wrong time. Their best new ideas were NYC, Texas, and FL. Just like Custer, trying to beat the tribes in Fl was as bad as the Little Big Horn; Texas is like their Alamo, and NYC is like Capone not paying his taxes.

Thailand is their best idea, so far. The UAE seems to be hot. I wonder if Dubai is a possibility.

And now this...

Genting would be ‘happy’ to develop IR in UAE: Lim

May 20, 2024 Newsdesk
www.ggrasia.com/genting-would-be-happy-to-develop-ir-in-uae-lim/

The head of Genting Singapore Ltd says the company would have interest in collaborating in an integrated resort (IR) project with casino in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), if such opportunity presented itself.

Lim Kok Thay (pictured), Genting Singapore’s executive chairman, noted however that an international tender for a casino only development in the UAE was “unlikely”. He made the comments in responses to shareholders at the company’s latest annual general meeting.

“The company would be happy to work on an IR development in the Middle East, leveraging the company’s experience in non-gaming offerings,” stated Mr Lim, according to a transcript published last week by the firm.

Global gaming operator Wynn Resorts Ltd is building the Wynn Al Marjan Island, a casino resort project in Ras Al Khaimah, part of the UAE, in the Middle East.

Although legislation to allow gambling has yet to be passed by the local authorities, Wynn Resorts has previously outlined thst the scheme is to include gaming facilities.

Jim Murren, a former chairman and chief executive of MGM Resorts, had in September been appointed chairman of a UAE body called the General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA). It will be responsible for regulating commercial gaming, and a national lottery.

Genting Singapore continued to monitor any progress regarding casino resort projects outside its domestic market, including in Thailand, said Mr Lim in the firm’s latest annual general meeting. But it was still too soon to make any commitments, he added.

“Until there is more visibility on the terms and conditions for legalising gaming in other jurisdictions such as Thailand, the company will continue to monitor what is happening outside of the home market,” said Mr Lim.

Genting Singapore is controlled by Malaysian conglomerate Genting Bhd. The latter has other gaming interests via Genting Malaysia Bhd, which operates Malaysia’s only casino complex. Genting Malaysia also runs casinos in the United Kingdom, Egypt, the United States, and the Bahamas.

In late March, Thai lawmakers supported a study recommending casinos be permitted in large entertainment complexes proposed for that nation. Thailand’s Ministry of Finance is leading work to examine the feasibility of legalising casino resorts in the country. Also at the annual general meeting, Genting Singapore’s chief executive, Tan Hee Teck, observed that it was “still early days for the Thai casino licence process”.

The CEO noted that Thailand was still compiling a report regarding the legalisation process, and the information currently available “was still very general and lacked specific detail on rules and regulations and the bidding process”.

“It would be necessary for crucial details to be firmed up such as locations and whether local residents would be allowed to gamble or not, before the company can decide if it should consider a bid,” stated Mr Tan.

Genting Singapore’s management said the group’s focus was now on the expansion project of Resorts World Sentosa. The company has pledged to invest SGD6.80 billion (US$5.05 billion) to upgrade and expand the complex, a project known as RWS 2.0.

“The board and management are of the view that RWS 2.0 will result in a better performance and better return for shareholders,” said Mr Lim.

“As and when the company comes upon a new opportunity outside of its core business in Singapore, it will update on progress,” he added.

Where will LVS' next new gaming IR-casino be May 20, 2024 6:50:50 GMT -5

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Post by Blitz on May 20, 2024 6:50:50 GMT -5

New York Pols Push Bills to Accelerate Casino Approvals

Posted on: May 20, 2024, Todd Shriber
www.casino.org/news/new-york-pols-push-bills-to-accelerate-casino-approvals/

With just 11 days left in this year’s legislative session, a pair of New York policymakers are pushing bills aimed at accelerating the currently sluggish process of awarding three downstate casino permits.

New York lawmaker Joseph Addabbo. He and Assemblyman Gary Pretlow are pushing bills to accelerate the approvals of downstate casino licenses. (Image: New York State Senate)

In their respective houses of the legislature, Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens) and Assemblyman Gary Pretlow (D-Mount Vernon) recently proposed bills that if signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), would prompt bidders for the New York City-area casinos to submit applications by July 31, potentially paving the way for approvals by the middle of 2025.

That timeline improves upon current prognostications indicating that approvals of the downstate casino permits might not arrive until late 2025 or early the following year. The Addabbo/Pretlow bills propose that the New York Gaming Facilities Board make recommendations on three winning bidders as soon as March 31, 2025.

Upon completion of the board’s preliminary review, the board shall provide the applicant with written notice of its determination,” according to text from Pretlow’s bill. “Where the board determines that the application is not sufficient for delivery to the community advisory board, the board must provide the applicant, in writing, the reasons for such determination. The applicant shall have twenty-one days from receipt of the written notice to amend their application and resubmit to the board in the same manner as the original application. The board shall then have seven days to review the amended application and issue a final determination on sufficiency.”

Should Hochul sign the legislation into law, it’d represent a nine-month reduction in awarding the license. The New York Gaming Commission (NYGC) recently said it’s hoping to accomplish that goal by Dec. 31, 2025.

Accelerated Timeline Could Help Some New York Casino Bidders

While Addabbo and Pretlow maintain their bills aren’t designed to favor one bidder over another, the likelihood exists that if their legislation becomes law, some competitors could benefit while others could be pinched.

For example, Genting-owned Resorts World New York in Queens and MGM Resorts International’s Empire City Casino in Yonkers could benefit from an accelerated timeline in approving casino applications because those venues are already operational as slots-only properties, indicating the infrastructure is there to make a relatively quick transition to Las Vegas-style casinos. Addabbo represents the district that includes the Genting propety.

Likewise, a faster pathway to clarity could be advantageous for Las Vegas Sands in its quest to bring a casino hotel to Nassau Hub in Uniondale.

Conversely, if New York pursues a faster timetable for approving casino applications, contenders such as New York Mets owner Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International as well as Bally’s could be burdened. Cohen and Hard Rock are partnering on the $8 billion Metropolitan Park plan in Queens while Bally’s wants to develop a casino resort at a golf course in the Bronx. Both groups need lawmakers to introduce legislation to alter the parkland designation currently applied to their sites, but it’s not clear if that will happen over the near-term.

Time Not on Side of New York Casino Legislation

There are compelling reasons for lawmakers to advance the Addabbo/Pretlow bills. Application fees are slated to be $500 million apiece, maybe more, for the winning bidders. Not to mention expectations of thousands of temporary and permanent jobs being created.

Those jobs mean more income tax collected by New York and state coffers will be further bolstered by new sales tax streams created by the casinos as well taxes paid to the state by the operators.

However, the timeline may not be conducive to advancing the Addabbo/Pretlow legislation. The New York legislature doesn’t meet on Fridays so this is a four-day week. Next week’s calendar is reduced to three days due to the Memorial Day holiday on May 27 and the session ends on Thursday, June 6. So there are 11 days in which policymakers can advance the casino acceleration bills and that might not be enough.