Casino operator Sands China is reportedly considering converting its Sands Macao property into a non-gaming facility in order to transfer scarce gaming tables to its newer venues.

During a speech at the Venetian Macao on Thursday, Las Vegas Sands chairman (and Sands China CEO) Sheldon Adelson said there simply aren’t enough hotel rooms in Macau to handle an influx of truly large Meetings, Incentives and Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE) clients. Adelson, who led the push to develop the MICE business in both Las Vegas and Macau, said he’d submitted an application to Macau authorities for a new 2,500-room hotel project.

Adelson offered no specifics as to what form this project might take, but Union Gaming Research analysts have come up with a theory. The theory has its roots in Macau’s infamous cap on new gaming tables, which calls for a 3% annual compound growth limit from its current total of roughly 5,700 tables.

Macau officials, who had previously suggested that there was some flexibility in the cap, have since reverted to their previous stance about enforcing the 3% limit until the last Macau casino concession expires in 2022. However, they’ve also suggested that the total number of new tables could be issued in advance of their annual delivery schedule depending on operator need, so it’s anybody’s guess what rule applies.