Steve Wynn Changed His Stance on Online Gaming
Steve Wynn has changed his support for Internet gambling, saying he cannot see where the profit is. His major question was whether the U.S. government would allow gambling operators to keep enough of their revenues to make the investment worth the trouble.
In announcing his new position on the online gambling industry, Steve Wynn said he reserves the right to change his mind again, if new information surfaced. Wynn described himself as “neither an opponent nor a proponent“, so it would be inaccurate to say he’s aligned with Sheldon Adelson, who has taken a hardline stance against computer betting.
Sheldon Adelson to Spend Whatever It Take to Stop Online Gaming
Sheldon Adelson, who runs the Las Vegas Sands, said in November 2013 he would spend whatever it takes to stop the trend towards online gambling. Adelson’s stated reason for his stance is a fear online casinos, sportsbooks, and poker rooms might cause a new wave of gambling addiction.
Since that time, Adelson has formed the “Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling“, which includes nationally-known politicians such as George Pataki, Wellington Webb, and Blance Lincoln. When the gambling mogul announced his opposition to Internet gaming, he appeared to many observers to be swimming against the tide of history. Some questioned his motives, given he’d been a firm advocate of land-based gaming, which has its share of gambling addicts.
Sheldon Adelson is a considerable force in the gaming world. Forbes has Sheldon Adelson listed as the 5th richest American and the 9th richest person in the world, holding just over $39 billion. Adelson’s Sands Corporation owns the most profitable casino in the world: the Venetian Macau. Increasingly, Adelson’s interests lie overseas in China’s gaming capital, where the Sands collects the largest percentage of its revenue.
Wynn’s History with Online Gambling
Three years ago, Steve Wynn became a vocal advocate of online gambling. At the time, he signed a deal with PokerStars. The world’s largest poker site assured Wynn their software could monitor and stop underage gambling, along with other criminal activities which concerned the famous Las Vegas casino developer. Even in late 2013, he was trying to collect a license to operate a licensed gaming site in one of the states which allow legal gambling.
Here in early 2014, though, Wynn has changed his stance. He no longer believes software has a realistic chance of catching underage gamblers. Just as pivotal, he believes the industry is not worth the investment. This might seem an odd assessment to all the Internet operators, software providers, and money transfer sites which make a living off the industry, but these people don’t play in the same arena as Steve Wynn. For a man who completes billion dollar real estate developments, the numbers might have to be extravagent to be worth his time.
A Wynn Resorts spokesperson added, “(online gambling) does not appear to be a good entrepreneurial opportunity. We would wait until there is a business opportunity.”
Land-Based Casino Companies Interested in Internet Gaming
Significant parts of the brick-and-mortar gambling industry have a different attitude. Las Vegas casino brand names like Caesars Entertainment and MGM Entertainment have shown considerable interest. These companies each have made aggressive bids to add legal online gambling licenses in recent months.
In fact, the wider gambling industry is set to take advantage of the new-found legal freedom to attract U.S. customers. Companies can leverage their famous brand names to attract visits to their online sites, while providing incentives to real money online gamblers to visit their land properties. Many see the business model for a healthy gaming company in the 21st century to include a fully-integrated land-based, online, and mobile casino experience.
All of the traditional major American gaming enterprises are going to make their own choices about going online and building mobile gaming networks. Some are likely to invest heavily in the newest technologies and the new forms of gambling. Others are likely to come to the conclusion Steve Wynn appears to have reached for the moment, or even avoid the business due to moral qualms with new emerging markets and this still-evolving industry. It may be they find better investments offline, in traditional land developments or new overseas markets.
With the new interest in licensed and legitimate USA-friendly virtual gambling, the coming years are be certain to have winners and losers. For the moment, Steve Wynn is weighing in that the gaming developments in New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada will produce less-than-advertised.
