Sands Yanks Casino Component from Texas Development Plan

Posted on: March 20, 2025, 08:03h. 

Last updated on: March 21, 2025, 09:06h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.
  • Casino operator dramatically alters North Texas proposal
  • Another sign of difficulty in bringing casinos to the state

In advance of what was likely to be a contentious meeting of the Irving City Council, Las Vegas Sands amended its proposal for developing land near the site of Texas Stadium, including stripping out the casino component.

irving
An aerial view of Irving, Texas. Sands has pulled the casino proposal from its planned development there. (Image: Redfin)

Mark Boekenheide, senior vice president of global real estate development for Sands, requested that the casino element be pulled from the pitch, adding Irving residents are currently cool on the idea of a gaming venue in their backyard.

Sands has asked the Irving City Council to remove the destination resort and gaming component from the proposal initially sent to you and instead consider approval of the balance of the uses in the rezoning entitlement,” he said on Thursday.

The gaming company’s decision arrived just two days after the Irving Zoning Commission voted in favor of zoning alterations that would have made it easier to develop land around state highways 114, 183, and Loop 12 for mixed-use, including a possible integrated resort.

Sands Finding Difficulty in Making Casinos Reality in Texas

Boekenheide’s comments regarding Irving residents’ cool reception toward a gaming venue are accurate. A recent petition on Change.org asking locals to sign against the casino plan garnered thousands of signatures while a competing petition backing the proposal barely mustered a fraction of that amount.

As is the case in other jurisdictions on the gaming expansion docket, Irving residents believe there are better uses for the land on which Sands had hoped to build a casino hotel. Those include family-friendly entertainment options, green space, housing, and parks.

Boekenheide also mentioned the “current status of gaming expansion legislation” in Texas — a highly desirable, untapped casino market and one where some politicians are reluctant to advance gaming expansion legislation. Following controversies involving the Texas Lottery, industry observers believe that there’s essentially no chance Texas advances casino or sports betting legislation this year. Boekenheide is long-term optimistic.

“As part of what is certainly going to be an open and ongoing process, our company appreciates the opportunity to share a vision of what that destination resort could look like in Irving or someplace else in the metroplex,” he said.

What’s Next for Sands in Texas

For now, it could be back to the drawing board for Sands in North Texas, and that could include efforts to drum up support among Irving residents for the casino plan and more wooing of politicians to back gaming expansion in the state.

Those steps are essential because without the casino element, the economics of the Irving development become significantly less appealing to Sands. That sentiment applies in other parts of the US where casino consortiums have told cities that if they’re awarded gaming licenses, they’re unlikely to proceed with development plans.

Sands acquired land near the former site of Texas Stadium in July 2023 — several months before the Adeslon and Dumont families acquired majority control of the Dallas Mavericks. Dr. Miriam Adelson is the largest individual investor in the gaming company, and Patrick Dumont will become chief executive officer in March 2026.