The proposal seeks to increase the annual total to USD 500,000. Additionally, the racetrack was urged to pay its debt and it is proposed to establish severe fines should this occur again.
Puerto Rico.- Representative José Aponte Hernández announced that he will present a project in the next legislative assembly to amend Law 74 of April 6, 2006, to increase the contribution made by the Camarero Racetrack to the Puerto Rico Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Program (PAJC). According to this project, the contribution would double from USD 250,000 to USD 500,000.
Aponte Hernández said that the sports betting industry generated USD 186m in 2023 and that this was added to the operator's profits, in this case, the Camarero Racetrack. He also noted that the “Puerto Rico Compulsive Gamblers Assistance Program Law” was created 18 years ago and merits review.
“According to multiple studies, there are about 55,000 citizens in Puerto Rico with a gambling addiction. To combat this terrible social evil that causes so much suffering to families, Law 74 of 2006 was implemented and it stipulated that the company managing the pool betting on horse races must disburse USD 250,000 annually to the PAJC. Remember that at that time there were no sports bets. Now there are, and the racetrack has a license for these betting terminals at horse betting agencies, as well as its own facilities,” commented the representative.
In the same way, Aponte Hernández asked, once again, the management of the Camarero Racetrack Race Track to pay the debt it has with the PAJC, which amounts to USD 2.5 m.
The representative explained that to ensure the racetrack complies, a progressive mechanism of fines should be available in case the stipulated payments are not made. “Another amendment will be presented which sanctions the Camarero Racetrack if it fails to make the annual payment to the PAJC. On the first offense, the fine would be up to 20 percent of the amount to be paid, the second violation involves a temporary suspension of the license for sports betting systems, and the third violation would lead to permanent cancellation,” he explained.
See also: The Camarero Racetrack of Puerto Rico under investigation for possible violations of the betting law
The project was originally slated to be completed by 2029.
Singapore.- Las Vegas Sands (LVS) has announced in its annual report that Marina Bay Sands’s (MBS) expansion will now be completed by June 2030 with an anticipated opening date in January 2031. That would mean a delay from the previous target completion date of July 8, 2029. The extension of the completion date will need the approval of the Singapore government.
In January, LVS agreed to pay US$1bn to Singaporean authorities after entering into an agreement with the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) for changes to the project. The company said it aimed to increase the overall gaming area allocation for the expansion project, among other amendments.
The expansion plan was initially announced in 2019. It was set to include a hotel tower with luxury rooms and suites, a rooftop attraction, premium gaming areas, convention and meeting facilities, and a state-of-the-art live entertainment arena with approximately 15,000 seats.
The deadline has been pushed back several times due to construction risks. The estimated cost of the project is US$8bn. LVS has reported that the renovation of Towers I and II of the IR is now complete.
