Macau Casino Industry Reports Losses Of $29bn In 2020 Due To COVID-19

Macau, the biggest gambling hub in the world has been significantly impacted due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020. Macau depends heavily on its casino industry which was rocked hard due to the lockdown and the restrictions that followed.

Macau is home to some of the biggest casinos in the world and all of them have had a hard time in 2020. Now that the year is finally behind us, reports are coming in which show that Macau’s casino industry suffered a $29.04 billion loss in 2020.

The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, which is the gaming regulator in Macau said that Macau reported revenues of $36.6 billion in 2019 and only $7.56 billion in 2020 which was a decline of 79.3 percent year on year.

The last time that Macau’s casinos generated combined revenues of less than $10 billion was back in 2006. The highest gambling revenue recorded by Macau’s casinos came in 2013 when a record $45 billion was brought in.

CNA

The gambling regulator said that December’s revenues showed that Macau’s casinos brought in $977.5 million which is a 65.8 percent decline from December 2019. However, the positive was that December’s revenues were the highest revenues recorded by Macau’s casinos since January 2020.

Macau’s casinos suffered early on in Jan 2020 in the lead up to the popular Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday due to the first reports of the coronavirus which emerged from Mainland China. Thereafter, Macau imposed a 15 day shutdown in Feb 2020 which significantly hurt the casino industry as what followed was a 6 month consecutive decline where revenues dropped by 90 percent or more.

What’s In Store For 2021?

Top casino operators like Las Vegas Sands Corp, MGM Resorts and Wynn Resorts who all have a strong presence in Macau have been impacted heavily by the losses in 2020. However, they continue to be upbeat that Macau’s resilient gaming market will bounce back in 2021.

Don’t hold your breath though as things are not looking too good for Macau’s casino operators at the moment. The six licensed gaming operators will have to wait and see if Macau renews their gaming licenses which are set to expire in June 2022.

Macau could also be hurt by the new amendment to China’s criminal laws which makes it illegal for anyone to organize groups to gamble in China or overseas. This will impact junket operators who play a big role in Macau’s gaming market.