Sheldon Adelson won’t seek a casino in Massachusetts

Adelson, who had spent nearly us$ 500,000 lobbying lawmakers on the casino bill approved last November, is known for building lavish gambling resorts, some costing several billion dollars. “With multiple facilities being proposed, it didn’t synch with our business model,” Ron Reese, a spokesman for Adelson’s company, Las Vegas Sands said Monday.

The confirmation that Adelson will skip the Bay State comes just two weeks after another Las Vegas casino developer, Steve Wynn, abandoned his plans to build a resort in Foxborough in the face of stiff local opposition. Wynn has given no indication he will choose another site in Massachusetts.

The absence of two industry giants, each with vast experience and deep pockets, could mean less competition for the Greater Boston casino license, potentially leading to lower bids or less ambitious projects, specialists say. “When you have major corporations with all the wherewithal they have competing for one license - a prized license that the one for metropolitan Boston would be - I don’t think there is any question that each one would be coming out showing you something better,’’ said Frank Fantini, publisher of Fantini’s Gaming and Lodging Reports.

The state gambling commission will eventually solicit bids for up to one gambling resort in each of three regions of the state, and one slot parlor that could be built anywhere. The Greater Boston license, expected to be the most lucrative in the state, is being pursued by Suffolk Downs in East Boston in partnership with Caesars Entertainment. Suffolk Downs has said it will invest us$ 1 billion in the development. Developer David Nunes, who has proposed a casino in Milford, has also pledged he will bid on the license but has not yet announced a financing partner.

The 78-year-old Adelson, raised in Dorchester, had been seen as a big unknown force in Greater Boston, a potential game-changing player with the know-how and financial resources to produce a top-flight bid - and to force other bidders to aim high.

Forbes pegs Adelson’s net worth at us$ 24.9 billion, ranking him the world’s 14th-richest person. Adelson’s Venetian hotel is a top attraction for sightseers on the Las Vegas Strip, incorporating canals and gondolas, and an indoor shopping and dining plaza designed to recreate Venice at dusk. He has spent billions developing resorts in Macao, China and Singapore, which have become huge gambling markets.