Las Vegas Sands, the big international casino-hotel company, issued a statement Wednesday that they are ending their plan to seek a license for a casino at Nassau Coliseum. The decision appears to secure another season for the Long Island Nets at the 50-year-old venue.
The Sands, which controls the Dallas Mavericks franchise, had planned to seek one of three downstate casino licenses by a June 27 deadline. If they had been awarded one of the licenses, expected in December, the Coliseum would’ve been demolished and the Nets G League affiliate would presumably have had to find a new home.
According to Newsday, the company cited a number of reasons for its decision, including a plan to legalize igaming, online slots and table games. Casino companies have long opposed that saying it could “cannibalize” brick-and-mortar casinos. Sands also said U.S. economic climate and better uses of capital to gird further depreciation of the company’s stock value.
In announcing the decision, Sands President Patrick Dumont, said Sands would attempt to find another bidder to replace it in the licensing process.
“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,” said Dumont said on a call with analysts Wednesday. (Dumont is also principal owner of the Mavericks.)
On Friday, a spokesman for BSE Global, the Nets parent company, responded to a NetsDaily inquiry about the G League team’s future this way, “The Long Island Nets have no comment at this time.”
The plan for a $6 million “integrated” resort on the 77-acre Coliseum property was highly controversial with local groups and nearby Hofstra University leading the opposition along with some politicians.
The Long Island Nets have played at the Coliseum since 2017 when the Nets then-owners Mikhail Prokhorov and Bruce Ratner upgraded the arena with a $180 million facelift in hopes of reviving it. But when COVID hit and Prokhorov backed out. The Long Island Nets are the main tenant at Nassau. There’ve been no concerts at the venerable facility in more than two years and other than home furnishings and wedding shows, it’s been mostly empty.
Last month, prior to the Sands’ decision, a spokesperson for BSE Global told ND that there was no “current plans” to relocate.
“The Long Island Nets have no current plans to relocate the team from its home arena, Nassau Coliseum, and remain dedicated to creating an exciting, family-friendly environment for our fans both locally and throughout the region,” said the spokesman.
Indeed, BSE Global has been able to beef up attendance at the Coliseum, mainly through a strategy of combining basketball with community events.
1
20
20
