Morgan Stanley has released a report which keyed in a three factors pivotal in the future of casino gaming; mass market revenue, VIP play, and capital returns to shareholders. Not surprisingly, Asia is a big part of the report, as they play a key role in the shaping of the industry’s future.
The report estimated global gaming revenue in 2014 came in at $423 billion, but of that staggering number, only 35 percent came from brick and mortar casinos. Coming in at $121 billion, or 29 percent, was lotteries. There was also a section of the report referred to as “other gambling”, which is comprised of areas such as sports betting, and parimutuel racing. That area comprised of $118 billion, or 28 percent.
US commercial and tribal operations led the way globally, taking in $67 billion, which comprised 46% of the $146 billion in total. Asia and Australia came in at $61 billion for 42%, while the rest of the world brought in $18 billion for 12 percent. Global VIP gaming accounted for $36 billion, or a quarter of land based casino revenue. Of that number, $26.4 billion of VIP revenue came from Macau. Global VIP did fall 8 percent last year, however.
The report on the mass-market side stressed the building of hotel rooms for increased revenue, which is good news for Macau. The new Cotai resorts are set to add thousands are rooms, while table growth will be limited by government limits.
