Last year Sheldon pitched $8 billion Rio resort
Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson is still interested in building at least one integrated resort in Brazil, the world’s fifth-largest country. Adelson recently visited the South American country recently to reiterate his interest, touching down in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most-populated city with more than 12 million people.
When asked by local media outlet Valor about the reason for his visit, the billionaire gaming mogul said he was there “to consider investing in one or more integrated resorts.”
Gaming in Brazil has been prohibited since 1941, but there has been a flurry of attempts to legalize casinos in the debt-plagued country. Brazil’s National Congress has introduced two bills that would launch a legal casino industry. House Bill 442, now in the lower chamber, would permit Brazil’s 26 states to host up to three casinos each. The bill will likely face debate in the Chamber of Deputies in the months to come.
Adelson is becoming a familiar face in Brazil. In May 2017, he visited Rio de Janeiro, where he met with Brazil’s President Michel Temer to pitch an $8 billion integrated casino resort.
A report on Casino.org notes that, though Brazil doesn’t have the economic prosperity of Japan, which is gearing up to introduce legal casinos, it has almost 64 percent more people. In a 2015 conference call with investors, Adelson said Brazil is “potentially a very good opportunity” for the Sands Corp.
Brazil Tourism Minister Vinicius Lummertz probably agrees. In a recent opinion column in O Globo, he pushed for casinos as one way to help ease the country’s economic and jobs crunch.
“While more than 13 million Brazilians suffer from unemployment, the National Congress discusses a bill that can attract more than R$50 billion (US$ 13.25 billion) in investments and generate more than 100,000 jobs in Brazil,” Lummertz wrote. “Regulating resorts integrated into casinos is urgent!”
He lamented the fact that Brazil has “closed the doors to a billion-dollar business, which operates virtually worldwide, piracy takes over Brazil, and our tourists generate jobs abroad. Estimates indicate that illegal gambling moves almost R$ 20 billion (US$ 5.3 billion) in the national economy. Currently, Brazilians account for 70 percent of the occupation and 50 percent of revenues from the main casino in Uruguay.”
He pointed to Singapore as an example of the “transformative power of integrated resorts.” After the Sands Corp. and Genting built the Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, the number of international visitors “jumped from 9.7 million in 2009 to 17.4 million in 2017,” wrote the tourism minister. “Revenue moved from US$12.8 billion to US$26.8 billion in the same period. By way of comparison, Brazil received 6.6 million international tourists and earned US$ 5.8 billion in 2017.”
He said Brazil’s refusal to legalize casino resorts is “an attitude that borders on insanity.”
Adelson made the same points in his recent visit. “Brazil is a giant country that receives few tourists, only six million,” he said. “It’s not just a casino, but the casino is important because it’s the most profitable part of the business, and subsidizes other activities.”
Possible development sites include Rio and São Paulo along with Recife and Salvador. Adelson’s visit included a meeting with the Rio Marcelo Crivella, who wants to bring more foreigners to the city that currently hosts about 1.5 million visitors from outside Brazil.
“He’s worried about attracting more tourists,” said Adelson of the mayor. “I’ve seen Rio as the entertainment capital. But it is not anymore. Rio needs something to revitalize.”
