Satellite casino operations in Macau will continue in some form under the city’s amended gaming law, according to Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong.
In recent comments, Lei said the satellites—which operate under the licenses of major casino concessionaires, but with separate ownership and management—may have to “adjust their operations” under the new law, but many will survive.
According to Inside Asian Gaming, some satellites will close after June 26, the date when the Big 6 concessions were originally set to expire. The expiration date has since been extended to December 31.
Under the government’s previously floated plan, satellites would have been required to be located on premises owned by a concessionaire, and would have been barred from participating in revenue-sharing. Absent those requirements, they would have had to close within three years.
Lawmakers have since backed off this plan, which would have threatened thousands of jobs in the city. Speaking to the media, Lei said the government wants the sector to continue. “The retention or departure of satellite casinos has no relation to the gaming law,” he said. “It is the economic impact caused by the pandemic.”
AsiaCasino.org reports that satellite casinos will now be allowed to remain in their current premises without requiring a change of ownership, on a management-fee basis rather than revenue-sharing.
“Macau’s gaming business model of the past 20 years needs to be changed,” said Lei. He also echoed comments from Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng that the previous MOP$130 billion GGR forecast for 2022 would be lowered. GGR for the first five months of 2022 is down 44 percent year-on-year to MOP$23.79 billion (US$2.95 billion).
Ho agreed that satellites can continue to operate, saying, “If there are not too many satellite casinos closing down, there is not a big problem.”
Meanwhile, Kwok Chi Chung, president of the Macau Association of Gaming and Entertainment Promoters, told Exmoo News that six to eight satellite casinos are expected to cease operations by the end of the month. These include all four casinos operated by Chan Meng Kam’s Golden Dragon Group and the casino at Grand Emperor Hotel, which operated under SJM’s gaming license.
Currently, there are 18 operational satellite casinos among a total of 40 casinos in the territory, with 14 of these third-party promoted casinos running under SJM. The others are linked to Galaxy Entertainment Group (GEG) and Melco Resorts and Entertainment Ltd.
Chinese-language newspaper Macao Daily News reported on March 24 that seven satellite casinos were planning to stop operations by mid-year, a casualty of tighter visa applications to Macau, lack of cash flow and the negative impact of repeated pandemic outbreaks. The Million Dragon Hotel reportedly has sent layoff letters to some of its employees. Macau Business reported that Rio Hotel in NAPE was placed for sale for MOP2 billion (US$247.5 million), together with its casino by a local consultancy agency.
At the end of 2021, the number of non-resident workers employed by all six gaming operators in the Macau special administrative region (SAR) was 32 percent lower than the 23,680 non-residents employed before the pandemic outbreak, according to the Labor Affairs Bureau (DSAL). Workers employed by satellite casinos but who are directly employed by the gaming concessionaires can be hired again, relocated to other hotels or reassigned to other positions.
