The road to a potential downstate New York casino license just got longer for Las Vegas Sands.

Just over a month after a state court nullified the 99-year lease it secured with Nassau County to develop a casino resort at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum – as well as another court granting a stay to delay that invalidation – Sands saw a New York appeals court uphold the initial ruling, blocking Nassau County from transferring the Nassau Coliseum lease to the gambling company.

As a result, Las Vegas Sands faces a lengthy uphill battle to land one of the three downstate retail licenses, much less NY online casino licensing should the state legalize the industry.