Las Vegas Sands folds Long Island casino bid

Las Vegas Sands’ bid to convert the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island into a $6 billion gambling den has crapped out.

The Nevada-based casino shredded its plans to build a casino on the site of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum at 1255 Hempstead Turnpike, in Uniondale, Newsday reported.

The casino giant decided to walk away from an opportunity to obtain one of three gaming licenses near New York City. Earlier this month, Saks also pulled its bid.

The reason cited: the threat of online gambling to in-person table games; the nation’s economic climate and better uses of capital to gird further depreciation of the firm’s stock value, it said.

Las Vegas Sands was among the stronger competitors in a race to acquire one of three casino licences for the New York region, and was a leading contender for the Coliseum property not far from Queens.

Sands said it still believed that Nassau Coliseum would be the best location for a new casino, according to a statement.

The firm said it would seek to transfer its right to bid for a license on that site to another company, and would use the money it might have spent on the project to buy shares of Las Vegas Sands and a subsidiary, Sands China, according to the New York Times.

The decision came months after Sands completed a Draft Environmental Impact Statement as part of a public review.

“We are in the process of attempting to secure an agreement with a third party to whom we can transact the opportunity to bid for a casino license on the Nassau Coliseum site. This would include those that may be able to address both land-based and digital markets in New York,” Patrick Dumont, president of Las Vegas Sands, said on a first-quarter earnings call.

“Sands has decided not to bid for a casino license in New York.”

Two years ago, Sands’ casino lease proposal was approved by Nassau County, but faced a lawsuit from nearby Hofstra University. At the time, Sands said even if it didn’t get one of the three casino licenses, it would still open a resort there. Not anymore.

Other developers stepping up to the table for the licenses include Steve Cohen, owner of the New York Mets, who wants to open a casino with Hard Rock Entertainment at Citi Field in Queens.

Hudson Yards developer Related Companies has pitched a casino with Wynn Resorts on the Far West Side of Manhattan.

SL Green Realty wants to open a casino with Caesars Entertainment in Times Square. And Bally’s eyes a potential casino site in the Bronx, which once housed the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point.

— Dana Bartholomew