Gaming giant Las Vegas Sands spent an estimated $10 million and employed a small army of lobbyists to try to battle strong restrictive anti-gaming sentiment in Texas. In the end, it barely moved the needle.
The legislation sponsored by Sands would require passage by both houses of the legislature followed by voter approval to amend the state constitution. If successful, it would have authorized destination resort casinos in the state’s four largest cities.
The effort was begun by the late Sands founder Sheldon Adelson after he and his wife donated $4.5 million to the Republican State Leadership Committee. It continued after his death by Andy Abboud, Sands’ senior vice president of governmental relations.
Abboud let Texans know just how much Sands wanted to serve them. “We view Texas as a worldwide destination and one of the top potential markets in the entire world,” said Abboud at a conference last December. “Texas is considered the biggest plum still waiting to be out there in the history of hospitality and gaming.”
Even so, the legislation didn’t make it to the floor of either chamber or get a committee hearing. Its ultimate fate was signaled early on in February when Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick told a radio talk show interviewer that the Senate was “nowhere close to having the votes for it,” and the measure “would not see the light of day this session.” In the Texas Senate the lieutenant governor is the presiding officer.
Sands added lobbyists and ran nonstop TV and radio ads under the Texas Destination Resort Alliance banner. It emphasized that Texas was leaving a lot of tourist money on the table for neighboring states’ casinos: “billions that could be staying here.” It also made very public donations to community groups leading recovery after winter storm Uri.
The new House Speaker Dade Phelan sounded neutral on the issue: “All my constituents gamble,” he said. “It’s not a big deal to me.” Governor Greg Abbott was also noncommittal.
Although the bill had bipartisan support, there just weren’t enough legislators committed to carry it beyond a certain point. One supporter, Rep. John Kuempel, told the Houston Texas Tribune, “Something this big and complex takes time, and we’re only up here five months of every two years. These things take time.”
When its failure in the state became obvious, Sands issued a statement saying it was in it for the long haul and promising to “continue to build community support across the state to ultimately turn this vision into a reality.”
Rep. Matt Shaheen isn’t so optimistic. He told the Tribune, “It fell really flat. It just didn’t go anywhere. It was a bad investment on Sands’ behalf, and I think any future investments will continue to be a bad investment.”
