Sheldon Adelson's Sage Advice, "Forget Las Vegas And Think Asia"

12 Jun. 2014

Despite being staunchly against the growth and increasing penetration of the gambling market by mobile casino offerings, Sheldon Adelson knows his business and points to a barely tapped area of the globe as the way to go for casinos to continue their growth. The 80 year old billionaire casino owner, who has slapped down rumours of retirement, has decided to give advice to those looking to grow their real world casino enterprises; enter the markets in Asia.

He has already turned his sights to the far east to increase his business reach, showing no signs of slowing down, even joking that 80 is the new 60, reassuring us all that he will continue to be a brilliant mind in the industry. "Forget Las Vegas and think Asia," he said, backing up the financial figures that have rolled in from across the world. A 36% growth in the income for the first fiscal quarter for the Sands in Macau is nothing to be ignored. Just last year, between casino and hotel earnings, they pulled in more than $45 billion and have plans to increase their market share by adding even more accommodations for tourist gamblers there.

Now there are more markets coming to bear for those willing to invest the time ad money to develop them. Adelson and his Sands Casino are looking to be among the first to enter Japan as soon as the laws surrounding the legality of casino gambling are revised. This whole new area for business opens doors that had previously been closed firmly to outside forces, leaving the people there who want casino presence with only the smaller and government allowed gambling options. Opening even one casino in just one city, Tokyo for example, would mean new exposure to more than 13 million people, nearly 22 times the local population of Las Vegas and more than 56 times that of Reno, Nevada. This doesn't take into account the amount of tourism that also flows through the area which would also add to the value of land based casinos there.

Sheldon Adelson didn't making his billions in the casino industry making bad business decisions and the direction that his company has taken throughout his career has shown that he has a talent for picking opportunities that are diamonds in the rough. Other casino operators should be heeding his advice and making their way overseas to stake their claim in this vast and largely untouched pool of players and money as soon as they can so that Sands can have some serious competition and establish themselves in this prime market.