Macau’s casino market ended 2020 with its lowest gaming revenue total in 14 years.
The Chinese Special Administrative Region, ravaged throughout the year by the COVID-19 pandemic, collected $7.56 billion in gaming revenue during 2020, a decline of 79.3% from 2019 when casinos produced $36.6 billion in gaming revenues.
The last year that Macau casinos collected less than $10 billion in gaming revenue was 2006 – four years after the government ended the gaming monopoly in the former Portuguese colony and opened the market to U.S. based casino operators.
Macau’s record year for gaming revenue was $45 billion in 2013.
The Macau government’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau said Friday the region’s casinos took in $977.5 million in gaming revenue during December, a decline of 65.8% from December 2019.
But on a bright note, the December total was the market’s highest single-month figure since January. Macau, which saw visitation hampered by travel restrictions and a 15-day casino shut down in February, experienced six straight months of 90% gaming declines that ended in October.
The coronavirus outbreak halted Chinese New Year celebrations in January. Late in the year, the region eased visa restrictions from Mainland China but extended the 14-day quarantine period to 21 days for all arrivals to Macau from Hong Kong and any location outside mainland China or Taiwan.
Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts, and MGM Resorts International are U.S. companies with casino operations in Macau, which has been considered the world’s largest gaming market in terms of gaming revenue.
Macau is the only destination in China with legal and regulated casinos. The casino company operated by the late Stanley Ho had a monopoly on gaming in Macau until the area was returned to China in 2000. International law enforcement believed Ho’s casinos were influenced by Chinese organized crime triads and China opened Macau to competition.
There is uncertainty surrounding Macau’s gaming license concessions, which expire in June 2022. The government has yet to release its plans for a renewal process.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.