Except for two Native American-owned properties in far-flung parts of the state, casinos are banned in Texas. But one of the biggest casino and resort companies in the world wanted to change that.
Las Vegas Sands Corporation made a big lobbying bet this past legislative session to try to convince lawmakers to ask voters to amend the state constitution to allow for gambling.
As Forrest Wilder reports for Texas Monthly, it didn't work.
"Sands is one of the largest casino gambling and destination resort companies in the world. They got their start in Las Vegas, but all six of their properties are now in Asia," Wilder said. "The company was started by the late Sheldon Adelson, who is a pretty well-known figure in American politics, and it is now controlled by his widow, Miriam Adelson. She is a billionaire and also is well known for her contributions to President Trump's presidential campaigns."
Despite casinos being largely illegal in Texas, Sands recently tried to push through a rezoning proposal in Irving.
"Sands went ahead and Irving tried to push through a rezoning proposal where they would take a property they own near the old Texas Stadium where Dallas Cowboys used to play," Wilder said. "Under this zoning proposal, they would be able to build a casino, as well as other things for shopping and an arena, perhaps for the Dallas Mavericks. And this ended up producing a pretty huge local backlash that ended up killing the deal."
Sands has been open that they think Texas is their ticket to reopen casinos in the U.S, according to Wilder.
"They argue the black market in Texas is already enormous," Wilder said. "Why not take all of that illegal activity that Texans are doing anyway – for example, by placing bets on their phones, on sports and that sort of thing – and turn into the sort of high-end legal luxury properties that they've been developing in the U.S. and elsewhere for decades?"
Sands hired over 100 lobbyists to try and convince lawmakers to open a path toward casinos in Texas.
"They invested tens of millions of dollars in political campaigns," Wilder said. "They ran an expensive, nonstop TV advertising campaign that probably most of your listeners saw at some point."
However, Wilder said he talked to experts that felt this level of marketing backfired.
"One person told me just being so aggressive that it kind of came across as bullying," Wilder said. "[They made] a lot of enemies in the Republican grassroots, which is never a good idea in Texas if you want to get something done at the Legislature.
"Nobody knows the future. They say they're not going away; they are unintimidated and are going to keep pressing forward. But from what I heard from a wide array of sources on all different sides of this issue is that they took a big step back and that they're going to have to kind of go back to the drawing board and figure out how they can move forward at this point."
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