Two key executives have been appointed to run Sands China while acting CEO Mike Leven looks for a replacement for the departed Steve Jacobs and, hopefully, tries to convince Stephen Weaver to take the job. They are Edward Tracy, who comes in as COO, and David Sisk, as CCO (chief casino officer). Both have deep experience in gaming. Tracy previously ran Capital Gaming, “a multi-jurisdictional manager of Native American and Riverboat casinos” and did some time as … wait for it … CEO of the Trump organization. Sisk was CFO of Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.

Yesterday, we were of the opinion that Sands China was in fine shape. Today, we must be honest and say we’re not 100% sure. There is no way we are going to judge these two men on their CVs. But we must confess to wincing when reading them. To be sure, Sands China has become somewhat heavy on hospitality skills and could do with some beefing up on casino experience. But it is a long, long way from Atlantic City or Las Vegas, let alone a reservation or a riverboat, to Macau. There are good people available in Asia who have considerable experience running casinos geared towards an Asian audience and who know how to work in a multi-cultural workplace. Bringing in two top people from the US who have zero experience in Asia does not bode well for the smooth running of Macau’s biggest and most profitable gaming machine. Jacobs himself will attest to this. He broke a lot of eggs before he got around to making an omelette in his 15 months at the helm.

Indeed, it is commonly held around town that Sands China’s biggest competitor is too often itself. Due to the near-constant turnover of senior management at the company, too much time is spent reorganizing its org chart and not enough focusing on the customer. Along the way, valuable talent gets tossed aside in petty internal squabbles, ending up at rivals’ properties – Dennis Andreaci at Galaxy, Walt Power at Macao Studio City, and Kelvin Tan at MPEL being just three of the best that come to mind (not counting the guy at Grand Lisboa).

On its own, this would not necessarily be a problem. Sands China succeeds anyway, and it could be argued that such turnover and resulting internal friction is what keeps the corporate culture dynamic. Ultimately, Sheldon Adelson is the one who decides everything in any case, so bringing in a couple more foot-soldiers from the US may not have as much impact on daily operations as some may fear.

Yet that would be to assume that the market is standing still. It is not. In fact, were it not for some Herculean efforts by the marketing team over the past six months, Sands China might not be looking in quite as good shape as it is now. Premium-direct business in Macau is completely different than anywhere else, and it is only in the last two months that it has really started to kick in for Sands China at The Plaza. Had it not, tomorrow’s conference call might have been a tough one for Adelson to conduct, as the junket business has clearly been declining at the Venetian and Sands Macao. Bringing in people to stand over this team who have no experience of Asian gaming could – we’re not saying it would, but it could – have an outsized effect if they start tinkering with such a sensitive and volatile business. And given the corporate culture of the place, these are people who are going to be under extreme pressure from HQ on a daily basis to prove themselves worth the paycheck.

That said, there is also a lot of upside potential to unlock, and if these two executives simply focus on managing the people rather than the business, we see continued strong growth ahead. The hardware is unique and the software has been improving. The organization is full of good people who know how to do their jobs well. What they need is security and focus. If Tracy and Sisk can unite and build, rather than divide and conquer, then the competition should have reason to fear. Stay tuned.

Used with permission & copyright to IntelMacau