[C O L U M N I S T ]
M A R K B L A N D F O R D
FOUNDER, SPORTINGBET
HEAD IN THE SANDS
heldon Adleson recently launched a vicious attack on online gaming in Forbes in a piece called Online Gambling is fool’s gold. He has achieved great success and a legendary turnaround in his company’s fortunes in land-based gaming and entertainment through his strategic vision. What a pity this vision deserts him when it comes to online gaming and naked self-interest. When I ?rst read Adelson’s article in Forbes criticising the digital gaming industry, it was hard to believe that I hadn’t been transported back 10 or more years. The same old arguments, which have largely been put to bed, were trotted out once again. There is no denying that Adelson has been successful since founding the Sands Corporation, taking it public and expanding internationally. However the notion that a digital environment, with its perfect closed loop of data, cannot be effectively regulated whereas physical casinos, which accept cash from anonymous patrons, can, is fanciful in the extreme. Adelson’s arguments simply do not bear close scrutiny. First, he claims that voluntarily excluding the Sands Corporation from online gambling is a moral stance on his part. Is this the same Sands Corporation that obtained an Alderney licence and set
Sportingbet founder Mark Blandford reacts to US casino billionaire Sheldon Adleson’s attack on egaming
S
up Venetian Interactive in 2003 only for it to disappear without trace? Or signing a deal with Cantor in 2006 for the supply of online gaming? Hardly the actions of a person opposed to online gambling. Adelson claims his Venetian brand would be an effective online competitor but is being disingenuous in seeking to airbrush his ill-fated online venture from history. Of course Venetian could compete online, but shareholders of the
By putting his head in the sand and pretending that digital and online technology can be held back, that Asian online gambl