Adelson power play in Las Vegas, unease in Macao

Sheldon Adelson, it long has been clear, brooks no dissent. He bought the Las Vegas Review-Journal to make it a megaphone for his political views (anybody remember the Marco Rubio presidential campaign, the one the R-J endorsed three times to no avail?). What about his vindictive lawsuits against reporters Jeff Simpson and John L. Smith? Now, not content to control the biggest newspaper in the Vegas Valley, Adelson seems to have turned his ire upon the milquetoast moderation of the Las Vegas Sun. Publisher Brian Greenspun is suing Adelson in federal court, saying Adelson is trying to put the Sun out of business, in particular by breaching the three-decade joint operating agreement that kept both papers in business, albeit with the Sun as a junior, inferior partner (the “Sunsert”) to the R-J, to which it habitually bled journalistic talent.

Reports Bloomberg, “In the past two years, Adelson has halted profit-sharing payments to Greenspun, eliminated joint promotions and has tried to hide the Sun’s content, including political endorsements, according to the complaint.” An Adelson political endorsement carries no weight with Nevada voters, so I can see why he’d try to hide the Sun‘s. “Clark County is going to a bluish county. Sheldon is a bright red person, and he wants his voice to be the only voice,” said Greenspun.

The R-J is undergoing a court-ordered audit to explore the merit of Greenspun’s profit-confiscation claims. Adelson’s paper hit back by accusing the Sun of having “substandard and often stale content,” which was often much truer of the R-J in the years I lived in Vegas. (Who can forget Sherman Frederick‘s terror at the specter of the Internet?) Adelson also covets the content of the Sun‘s Web site, where he says the best stories are stashed, because the Web is outside the domain of the JOA. Some think the real bottom line in this story is advertising dollars, which aren’t enough to go around. This could be much closer to the truth of Adelson’s stranglehold on the Sun, although when he gets a bee in his ideological bonnet he’s loath to get rid of it until he’s beaten it into smithereens.

* In Adelson’s primary market, Macao, new chief executive Ho Iat Seng is keeping gaming CEOs on tenterhooks with his pronouncements about casino policy. “We won’t allow foreign influences to have a hand in Macao’s affairs,” he said, rattling the cages of all concessionaires (three of whom hail from Hong Kong), especially American ones. Continuation of the status quo, however, depends on much more than Ho’s mood. The three subconcessions, created for convenience when Adelson fell out with Galaxy Entertainment, sunset in 2022 and will require either amendment of the current gaming law, which doesn’t explicitly authorize them, or completely new legislation.

The Macanese Lege is a lawmaking body that makes very few laws, although the needed amendment is said to be in the drafting stage. Also, casino owners can probably forget about another 20-year set of concessions. Renewal until 2027 is considered the likelihood, certainly more so than nationalization or rebidding, although the latter is not to be counted out. The Ho administration is considering far likelier to stick with the current half-dozen concession, neither expanding nor contracting, which would kill the golden goose.

However, that puts casino-coveting companies like Suncity Group and Macau Legend Development in rather a tight squeeze. Ho favors keeping a lid on the current number of concessions, so aspirants would have to hope that he confiscates somebody’s gaming permit, maybe that of ancient Sociedade de Jogos de Macau.

Beijing, meanwhile, wants to see diversification of the Macao economy (tourists have different ideas), which puts extra pressure on Ho to stay the course. No wonder gaming consultant Alidad Tadash told a reporter, “It’s not about what is good for Macao, but what is politically expedient.”

* When Arlington Park declined to go racino the Illinois Racing Board threatened to pull its permit. However, it was just talk and Arlington was green-lit for racing dates next year. “Imagine if you take out your star player, it doesn’t mean the rest of the team can’t pick up but it’s gonna be harder to win games,” said board Chairman Jeff Brincat, nonsensically.

* Some are predicting that when Imperial Cos. takes over The Rio its casino days are numbered. Instead, the C-word will be “condos.” On the bright side, look for “meaningful capital expenditures,” long overdue at Las Vegas‘ most beautiful resort. Also, Caesars Entertainment may be putting The Cromwell on the block, alongside Planet Hollywood. Given the number of prospective buyers, why not?