Chavdar Vasilev is a journalist covering the casino and sports betting market sectors for CasinoBeats. He joined CasinoBeats in May 2025 and reports on industry-shaping stories across the US and beyond, including legislative debates, market...
Read Full BioLas Vegas Sands (LVS) is shutting down its digital gaming venture, Sands Digital Services (SDS), which it launched three years ago but never brought to market. The company’s decision will result in approximately 300 to 400 layoffs, including 150 in Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
In a letter to affected staff obtained by the newspaper (which is owned by the Adelson family, including Dr. Miriam Adelson, LVS’s majority shareholder), President & COO Patrick Dumont wrote:
“As has always been the entrepreneurial approach of our company, investments in SDS were made with the understanding there would be multiple points in the process where we would assess the most pragmatic path forward.”
SDS, incorporated in Nevada in 2022, intended to stream live-dealer casino games to US jurisdictions with legalized online casinos (NJ, CT, DE, MI, PA, WV). The platform, intended to rival global leader Evolution, never reached the market before LVS leadership pulled the plug.
From Adelson’s Anti-Online Stance to a Pivot—and Back Again
Under founder Sheldon Adelson, LVS was among the most prominent opponents of mobile gambling. In 2013, Adelson warned that online gambling was “fool’s gold” and “a societal train wreck waiting to happen.”
Adelson’s death in January 2021 marked a turning point, with new leadership briefly reversing course. CEO Rob Goldstein launched an initiative to invest in digital gaming tech—primarily B2B—led by Davis Catlin.
At the time, Goldstein said: “Digital gaming and other related offerings are still very much in the early stages of development, and we believe there is an outstanding opportunity for us to invest in the technologies being developed.”
The announcement of the SDS shutdown marks a reversal of that post-2021 exploration. Still, Dumont emphasized that “technology and innovation will continue to play an important role,” even as Sands remains focused on its core brick-and-mortar strategy.
Despite Its Name, LVS Has No Casinos in the US
While the name suggests the company started in Las Vegas, LVS no longer has a property in the US. In February 2022, Sands finalized the $6.25 billion sale of The Venetian/Palazzo and the Sands Expo. That marked the exit of US operations while retaining its corporate headquarters in Las Vegas.
At the time, the company stated that its “top priorities” would be heavy reinvestment in Macau and Singapore. Today, LVS’s operating portfolio is exclusively in Macau (via Sands China) and Singapore (Marina Bay Sands). Those markets continue to drive results.
In Q2 2025, LVS reported $3.18 billion in revenue and $519 million in net income. The Marina Bay property experienced a 40% year-over-year increase in revenue. Shares jumped on the beat. Macau’s June GGR surge of +19% YoY also buoyed sector stocks earlier in the summer.
The Road Back to the US.: New York Fizzled; Texas is the Target
Sands’ current focus is not entirely on Asia. In 2023, the company announced plans to compete for one of up to three downstate New York casino licenses via a multi-billion-dollar project on Long Island.
LVS abandoned the plan in April 2025, a few months before the final applications were due. It was one of several early withdrawals, leaving eight candidates. The process is in the final stages with four bids still in contention.
LVS’s attention has since shifted primarily to Texas. The company has pursued casino plans in the state since before Sheldon Adelson’s death. Part of the broader strategy includes the purchase of the Dallas Mavericks. The NBA team could potentially relocate to a new arena within a proposed integrated resort complex in Irving, the former site of Texas Stadium.
Disclosures this summer showed a $9.3 million PAC positioned for the 2026 election cycle. That signals persistence after legislative efforts stalled in recent sessions. Almost all the funding has come from Miriam Adelson.
The closure of SDS underscores that for Sands, the future of US expansion lies not online but in brick-and-mortar casinos. And Texas stands firmly at the center of that bet.
