Six Macau operators formally sign up

The six operators of casino concessions in the Chinese territory of Macau formally signed their contracts with the local government authority on Friday.

The six are MGM Grand Paradise, Galaxy Casino, Venetian Macau, Melco Resorts, Wynn Resorts and SJM Resorts. The contracts were signed on the government’s behalf by Macau’s CEO Ho Iat Seng.

The new contracts come into force on January 1 and will be valid for 10 years. Each of the concessionaires has pledged to develop tourism projects away from gambling to broaden Macau’s appeal to travellers.

Each of them is obliged to maintain issued capital of MOP$5bn (€587m). But the operators have been struggling against the tide of Covid in the past two years, only recently seeing the restrictions from the mainland authorities being relaxed.

They are about to see the worst annual GGR on record with only MOP38.7bn (€4.5bn) so far (to November) down 86 per cent on the same period of 2019.