Play by mass-market gamblers in Macau exceeded pre-pandemic volume during April through June of 2024. It is now at 118 percent of pre-COVID levels.
That was among the takeaways of a Wednesday investor note from Joseph Greff of J.P. Morgan. Although mass-market table win was down a percentage point from the first quarter of this year, it well overshot levels seen in the comparable period of 2019, before COVID struck the Chinese enclave.
Other highlights included the recovery of 81 percent of pre-pandemic air traffic into Macau’s airport, as visitation reached 79 percent. Also, slot-machine revenue was back to 100 percent of 2019 volume.
On the downside, tourist traffic into Macau declined seven percent from the first quarter’s 86 percent of 2019 volume. High-roller play continued to languish at 23 percent of what it was before COVID and the Beijing government’s crackdown on junkets.
Slots were up, table games slightly down, and cash flow unchanged at $1.9 billion for the quarter. Premium and VIP tables accounted for only 12 percent of casino winnings, the preponderance of revenue coming from mass-market table games and slot machines.
Mass-market gambling revenue for the quarter (excluding slots) was $4.8 billion, a decline from the first quarter’s $5.6 billion. Greff’s rankings for table share were dominated by Las Vegas Sands with 24.5 percent and Galaxy Entertainment with 18.9 percent.
MGM Resorts International, Melco Resorts & Entertainment, and SJM Holdings were closely bunched, with 16.8 percent, 14.1 percent, and 13.3 percent respectively. Wynn Resorts trailed with 12.4 percent of mass-market play. MGM and Galaxy took share from Melco, Sands, and SJM, while Wynn held steady.
Breaking down market share through cash flow, Greff estimated that Sands led with 28.9 percent, followed by Galaxy’s 20.9 percent. After that came MGM (16.2 percent), Wynn (14.5 percent), Melco (12.8 percent), and former monopolist SJM (6.7 percent).
Those numbers compared to 2019 represent a 4.5 percent shrinkage in Sands’s market share and an eight-point increase for MGM. The latter appeared to be taking share from all operators except SJM, which was one point up.
Although casino companies had reported $847 million in VIP gambling win, Macanese authorities pegged the number much higher, at almost $1.7 billion. Per Greff, this represented a seven percent slacking off from the first quarter of 2024.
Sands and Galaxy were closely matched for high-roller play, 21.2 percent to 21 percent. Not far behind were Melco (19.9 percent) and Wynn (16.6 percent). MGM (13.2 percent) was distantly followed by SJM (8.1 percent).
Compared to 2019, Sands gained six percent of VIP action, while MGM garnered an additional five percent and Melco one percent. Wynn (three points), SJM (four points), and Galaxy (five points) all lost high-roller market share.
