Industry News

Las Vegas Sands Named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for World and North America

Published

7 months ago

December 15, 2023

Las Vegas Sands was again recognized on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), with placement on the DJSI World Index for the fourth consecutive year and the DJSI North America Index for the eighth time. Sands China Ltd., the company’s Asian subsidiary, was named to the DJSI World and DJSI Asia Pacific indices for the second consecutive year.

Sands and Sands China are the only two companies in the Casino and Gaming category listed on DJSI World this year, out of 19 companies invited to participate. Sands is the only company in the Casino and Gaming category listed on DJSI North America, and Sands China is one of only two companies in the Casino and Gaming category listed on DJSI Asia Pacific.

The DJSI World Index comprises global sustainability leaders as identified by S&P Global through the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). It represents the top 10% of the largest 2500 companies in the S&P Global BMI based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria. The DJSI North America and DJSI Asia Pacific indices represent the top 20% of the 600 largest North American companies and the top 20% of the 600 largest companies in the Asia Pacific developed region in the S&P Global BMI based on the same criteria.

“Our recognition on this premier global sustainability benchmark, following our recent inclusion as one of Newsweek’s America’s Most Responsible Companies, underscores the impact of our corporate responsibility initiatives and ESG leadership. We aim to be the employer and partner of choice in our regions, a model corporate citizen working to ensure strength and resiliency of our communities, and the industry leader in environmental sustainability,” Patrick Dumont, president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands, said.

Sands’ DJSI inclusions also reflect the company’s adaptability in aligning efforts and reporting to the major methodology changes and public disclosure expectations made for the CSA this year. The approach is reflective of Sands’ focus on transparency as defined by the major ESG authorities and a dedication to continuously expanding its impact.

With the goal of achieving measured, ongoing progress, Sands also has established 2021-25 ambitions in the areas of workforce development, Team Member volunteerism and carbon emissions reduction, mapping to its People, Communities and Planet corporate responsibility pillars.

Under the People pillar, Sands aims to invest $200 million in workforce development by 2025. As of 2022, the company had invested $56 million in workforce development initiatives, bringing its cumulative investment to $113 million since 2021, well past the halfway point. Sands is focused on building the workforce of the future by supporting the professional growth of its Team Members, advancing the skills of hospitality industry professionals as well as the local labor pool in its regions, and helping local businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, succeed.

Finally, Sands works to ensure the long-term environmental health of its regions through the Planet pillar, led by the Sands ECO360 global sustainability program. The company’s 2025 environmental ambition is to achieve a 17.5% reduction in carbon emissions. As of 2022, Sands had achieved a 50% reduction in carbon emissions from its 2018 baseline; however, the cumulative decrease reflected continued pandemic-related impact on property visitation. As business returns to more normal levels in 2023, Sands is continuing to aggressively pursue its low-carbon transition initiatives in the areas of energy efficiency, renewable energy and transportation.

The DJSI, including the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World), were launched in 1999 as the pioneering series of global sustainability benchmarks available in the market. The index family is comprised of global, regional and country benchmarks. The S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) is an annual evaluation of companies’ sustainability practices. It covers over 10,000 companies from around the world. The CSA focuses on sustainability criteria that are both industry-specific and financially material and has been doing so since 1999.

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Industry News

Penn Entertainment to Lay Off About 100 Employees

Published

4 days ago

July 23, 2024

Niji Narayan

Penn Entertainment plans to lay off about 100 employees as it focuses on growth for ESPN Bet.

CEO Jay Snowden told staff members in an internal email that the changes will enhance operational efficiencies following its 2021 acquisition of Canadian media and gaming powerhouse theScore.

The company employs about 20,000 people.

“When PENN acquired theScore, we hit the ground running with the build-out of our proprietary tech stack and the migration of our sportsbook to theScore’s best-in-class-platform,” Snowden wrote in the memo. “This led us to temporarily set aside any potential organizational changes that would typically follow a major acquisition.”

Penn went on to say it’s embarking on a new phase of growth in its interactive business, which includes ESPN Bet, a $2 billion branding partnership with Disney’s ESPN. Snowden said the initiatives include product enhancements and deeper integration into ESPN’s ecosystem.

Investors are impatient for Penn to demonstrate its muscle with the rebranded sportsbook, and activist investor Donerail Group has called on the board to sell the casino company.

Rumors have swirled about the potential interest from many other online gaming and brick-and-mortar casino companies.

Truist gaming analyst Barry Jonas wrote in a note Thursday that a sale is unlikely in the near term because of the complexity of a transaction that would likely involve major divestitures.

Penn’s release of new ESPN Bet features this fall during football season should meaningfully improve its product, Jonas said, and a focus on costs indicate the company’s commitment to seeing its investment yield results.

Penn shares have plummeted 25% year to date. It has missed earnings expectations the last two quarters and lowered guidance.

“Investors continue to wonder what an ESPN Bet success could look like, and how much more investment (beyond what’s guided) it’ll take to reach,” Jonas notes.

Industry News

Stevin ‘Hedake’ Smith to Promote Gambling Harm Awareness Through EPIC

Published

5 days ago

July 22, 2024

Niji Narayan

Stevin ‘Hedake’ Smith was at the center of one of the most high-profile examples of gambling-related harm in basketball history, which makes him the perfect latest addition to EPIC Global Solutions’ team as they continue to educate the current generation of professional and collegiate athletes on how to avoid the repeat of a similar scenario.

The former point guard made his name as a star player at Arizona State University in the early 1990s, setting college records for three-point attempts and being a two-time All-Pac-10 selection. However, his involvement in point-shaving – which was the subject of a 2021 Netflix documentary – led to a one-year prison sentence and impacted an NBA career with hometown team, Dallas Mavericks.

The source of his gambling harm – being approached by a gambler to change the final score of a game without changing who wins – is an issue that remains very pertinent to student-athletes 30 years on, in spite of the significant changes to sports wagering legislation.

This ensures that his planned involvement in EPIC’s range of education sessions to teams connected to partners such as the NCAA, MLB, and MLSPA will be an important lesson for the athletes, coaches, and staff in attendance when he travels to address them in his new role as US sports advisor for the company.

“I’m passionate about wanting to tell my story and get out there to prevent this from happening again,” he explained.

“I’ve been able to tell my story to players previously and I’m able to have a relationship with all of them in the audience because of the way I deliver my message and coming from one big fraternity in sport. Knowing that EPIC has a global reach is something that really stood out to me about this opportunity and I’m passionate about getting out there and speaking about my experience.”

Though already a renowned name in sporting circles, Smith’s profile is set to rise again in the months ahead with the release of eponymous autobiography, ‘Hedake’, which will coincide with his work with EPIC.

“We’re proud to welcome Hedake to our team and can’t wait to see the impact he’ll have on audiences,” added Teresa Fiore, EPIC’s VP of partnerships.

“In being approached to shave points on game, Hedake has experienced a type of gambling-related harm which is different to many of our other team members. His story represents an area of increasing concern within sports, which adds to the range of our education designed to benefit our valued partners and the key people in their organisations.”

Industry News

Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) Calls for Overhaul of “Responsible Gambling” Model

Published

5 days ago

July 22, 2024

Niji Narayan

As the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) gathered for their annual conference in San Diego last week, the Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI)—a nonprofit research center for public health laws affiliated with Northeastern University School of Law— released a new video to highlight the ethical and scientific failure of the “Responsible Gambling” model.

Under the direction of its president, Professor Richard Daynard, Executive Director Mark Gottlieb, and Director of Gambling Policy Dr. Harry Levant, PHAI is leading the efforts to replace the Responsible Gambling model with a comprehensive public health response to the unprecedented expansion of the gambling industry and online gambling. PHAI will be advocating for and advancing much-needed public health reform and regulation at both the federal and state levels.

The new video, which can be found on the PHAI website here, analyzes key flaws in the Responsible Gambling model—an approach favored by both the gambling industry, and the gambling-industry-funded NCPG.

In the video, Dr. Levant highlights the situation’s urgency, stating “The expansion of online gambling without appropriate safeguards and regulation is an industry-driven ‘wild west’ environment, resulting in a looming public health crisis.”

President Daynard echoed this statement by criticizing the current Responsible Gambling model: “The Responsible Gambling model puts the onus on the customer, rather than focusing on the irresponsible design and marketing decisions of the gambling industry.”

Professor Gottlieb also emphasized the need for change. “The time has come to expose the failures of the Responsible Gambling model and move forward with a public health approach to regulation and reform,” he said.