Las Vegas Sands joins soccer club on casino project

Tuesday, May 10, 2005 | 10:55 a.m.

Las Vegas Sands Corp. has entered into an agreement with Manchester United -- England's best-known soccer team -- to build a resort and casino near the team's Old Trafford stadium.

The proposal calls for a five-star luxury hotel, restaurants, a health club, sports bar and casino, Las Vegas Sands said. The company didn't reveal the project's cost.

The plans are contingent upon the project receiving a license to include a casino as part of the complex.

Las Vegas Sands, which owns the Venetian resort and is developing major casinos in Las Vegas and the Chinese enclave of Macau, already has signed deals with the Glasgow Rangers and Sheffield United soccer teams in Britain.

The company joins competitors MGM Mirage and Caesars Entertainment Inc. in Britain, which is expected to pass legislation that would allow more slot machines and casinos in that country while lifting some decades-old restrictions on gambling.

Some American companies and analysts have become less bullish on the legislation because it may allow the construction of only one large-scale resort casino.

Harrah's Entertainment Inc. pulled out of a deal with a U.K. bingo operator over concerns that the legislation would not allow as many casinos as had been originally proposed.