It was wild.

Officials from the City of Irving negotiated in secret with Las Vegas Sands on an approval for the world’s largest casino in our Irving, and then tried to rush this approval through in three weeks (!).

When the citizens of Irving resisted, their plans got put temporarily on hold.

Then Las Vegas Sands flooded the election with dark money to elect their preferred candidates to City Council, most of whom failed to win.

More information is below.

What Is The Las Vegas Sands?

Las Vegas Sands Corp. is a resort and casino company founded by the late Sheldon Adelson and now run by Miriam Adelson. It owns resorts in Macau and Singapore. Miriam Adelson is a top Trump donor, giving $100 million.

What Is Sands Trying To Do In Texas?

Currently casino gambling is illegal in Texas. Legalizing it would require amending the Texas state constitution. The Las Vegas Sands has spent a lot of money to do this. In 2021, Sands spent $10 million. It gave $2.25 million to various candidates in the 2022 election, and $4.4 million in 2024.

What Has Sands Done In Dallas?

In 2023, after Mark Cuban sold a controlling interest in our Dallas Mavericks to the Adelson and Dumont families, our star Luka Doncic was traded away to the LA Lakers.

The Las Vegas Sands President, and son-in-law of Miriam Adelson -- Patrick Dumont -- defended the trade by citing Luka’s lack of work ethic.

What Did Sands Want With Irving?

Las Vegas Sands purchased land near the old Texas Stadium site in what is known as Planned Unit Development 6 or “PUD 6,” between State Highway 114, Loop 12 and Spur 482.

Their goal was to build the world’s largest casino on the property.

Was The Proposed Irving Casino Really The World’s Largest?

Yes. The Winstar is currently the largest casino at 600,000 square feet. The Las Vegas Sands plans presented to the Irving City Council included a plan for a 750,000 square foot casino.

Gambling Is Illegal In Texas, So How Could Irving Even Approve A Casino?

The zoning change proposal was conditional upon the Texas constitution changing to allow gambling.

How Did It Happen That Irving Attempted To Rush Through Approval For The World’s Largest Casino?

Las Vegas Sands worked with Irving city leaders to try to rush through -- in only three weeks -- a zoning change to allow a casino. The timeline:

• July, 2023: Las Vegas Sands quietly purchased tracts of land in PUD 6.

• December 8, 2023: D Magazine revealed the purchase. Irving economic development director Beth Bowman declined to identify the buyer, but indicated that the city was in negotiations with Las Vegas Sands, saying that city leaders “are committed to unlocking its vast potential with a transformational project that will drive economic success for our city.”

• February 27, 2025: The rushed process begins with the City of Irving revealing a proposal to create a new zoning designation for the land that includes “casino gaming” as a permitted use.

• March 4, 2025: Irving residents came out in force to speak against the amendment at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

• March 14, 2025: A Town Hall meeting at the Irving Convention Center attracts a packed crowd. The Sands representative met significant push-back from citizens.

• March 17, 2025: At the Planning and Zoning commission meeting on Monday evening into the early morning hours, ending at 2:30am. The committee heard 7 hours of eloquent and forceful testimony from City Council Candidates Adam Muller and Sergio Porres and 100 other speakers who spoke against the re-zoning of PUD 6. Only 3 speakers in favor, and one of them was a paid consultant. The Commission voted 5-4 to recommend the change.

• March 20, 2025: The City Council limited public comment to two minutes, but the meeting still lasts for 7 hours until past 2:00am, as 179 citizens spoke during the public comment period, all of them unanimously opposed to rezoning for gambling.

• April 2, 2025: The Dallas Morning News reported how prior to the City Council vote, Sands took a “flood the zone” approach, sending out text messages, mailers, surveys and social media advertisements to people in Irving.

Did Sands Give Up?

No. During the Irving City Council’s March 20 work session, Sands executive Mark Boekenheide did not say the company was abandoning the project. Sands can simply get their way through a vote of a new city council.

Will The Sands Build A Resort Without A Casino?

No. At that March 20 work session, Sands executive Boekenheide emphasized that casino gaming was essential for their plan. He said, “I cannot commit to building a four million square foot project and spend four billion dollars — the economics will not work without a casino piece.”

Did Sands Promise Not To Get Involved In Irving’s Municipal Elections?

Yes. Mr. Andy Abboud, Sands’ senior vice president of government relations, made a promise at the March 4 Town Hall Meeting at the Irving Convention Center. In response to a question about staying out of local elections in Irving, asking if Sands would directly or indirectly influence the proposed zoning change through financial donations, Mr. Abboud said: “No, no, no, we would never do that.”

Did Sands Break That Promise Not To Fund Their Favored Candidates In Irving Elections?

It seems so.

Since mid-April, Irving has been flooded with campaign materials all paid for by the “Lone Star Conservative Action Fund,” which people have plausibly connected with Sands.

It’s a registered 501(c)(4) and is the definition of “dark money.” They are not a proper Political Action Committee that discloses its donor list. It’s a political nonprofit based out of Austin that supports the lamest Republicans like Dustin Burrows and Jeff Leach. But why did the Action Fund out of Austin pouring money into Irving’s city council race? The only one issue that made this election different from all others was the casino.

For more on the dark money flooding Irving, see reporting by the Dallas Express, and also this post.

The Result

Two of the three anti-casino candidates won outright on election day, and the third made the runoff.

Commentary on the election:

During the runoff election campaign, the candidate who ended up winning the hotly contested race distanced himself from the idea of building a casino.

Coverage from the Dallas Morning News about that election: Irving chamber, Sands accused of ‘backroom deal’ for former Texas Stadium land

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