Sands Macau. Photo via Wikimedia Commons Las Vegas Sands has apparently pulled the plug on its online gaming investment division, less than a year and a half after launching the effort to crack into the digital gaming space — a business long shunned by the casino operator.
Earnings and More , a Substack newsletter produced by journalists Scott Longley and Jake Pollard, first reported in October that Davis Catlin, who was brought aboard by Las Vegas Sands in July 2021 to steer the company’s investment into online gaming, had departed with a partner to build their own investment firm focused on digital initiatives.
Eilers & Krejcik Gaming analyst Chris Krafcik picked up on the news, telling readers of his advisory firm’s newsletter last week that Sands’ online efforts had been shuttered. He said the company made several investments into the online gaming sector, including financing provided to US Integrity , a sports betting monitoring service.
“Existing investments are thought to be broadly unimpacted, though there is speculation Sands could try to sell the investments to a third party,” Krafcik wrote in the EKG newsletter.
Las Vegas Sands spokesman Ron Reese declined to comment on the status of the company’s online business, saying there was “nothing to provide at this time.”
Krafcik noted the shutdown by Sands left some companies hanging. Krafcik said Sands had pulled back “multiple signed term sheets” with various businesses. He said one startup business in the online gaming sector had courted investment from multiple financing sources, but Las Vegas Sands had committed to the full investment.
“Months later when Sands pulled the term sheet, none of the previously interested parties were willing to put in any money and the business was left high and dry,” Krafcik said.
He said the investments were in the “single-digit millions,” but a Sands-backed investment in Huddle Tech , a merger between two companies that were planning to provide wagering services to U.S. sportsbooks, was reportedly worth $40 million.
Las Vegas Sands executives teased its entrance into online gaming in January 2021, weeks after the death of company founder Sheldon Adelson, who vehemently opposed the expansion of […]
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