The partnership between Las Vegas Sands and Rangers Football Club has been given the go-ahead from Glasgow City Council to build a casino complex, thereby stealing a march on the Salford project that was reported earlier this week to be getting a date for its application to be considered. The Ibrox consortium is the first in Britain to receive council planning permission for such a construction, but does not signify ultimate success in getting the one regional casino licence so far permitted under the Gambling Act 2005. It does, however, give them a head start.

The casino complex would be constructed opposite the Ibrox stadium, along with 300 new homes and an Ibrox Boulevard. The development, which has already spent around £1.5 million (US$2.7 million)on the planning stage, would create around 2,000 new jobs in an area of high unemployment. Glasgow should also benefit from an influx of tourists and gamblers generating some £30 million (US$54.3 million) annually for the city.

The Ibrox project is not unique in Glasgow – there are also projects for a super casino at the Scottish Conference and Exhibition Centre and another on the banks of the Clyde – and there are six casinos already operating in the city. Final approval for a super casino rests with the UK government and the newly formed Gambling Commission. Competition will be fierce, with many councils keen to host Las Vegas style gambling in their cities. It is thought by many that the Government may increase the number of super casinos within the UK, if they can get the Gambling Act amended. (E-09.21.05)

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