Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) will cap the number of junkets allowed to operate across the city’s six concessionaires next year at 50, and the number of agents at 250. It has also announced how many junkets each concessionaire will be permitted to work with.
According to information made public on Monday, Sands China and SJM Resorts are allowed the most junket partners with 12 apiece, followed by MGM China and Melco Resorts with eight each, and Galaxy Entertainment Group and Wynn Macau Ltd with five each.
While this takes the total allowable to 50, it is worth noting that there are only 36 licensed junkets in 2023 – down from 46 in 2022 and from around 100 pre-pandemic.
As per Macau’s new Gaming Law, which came into effect as of 1 January 2023, each licensed junket is only allowed to cooperate with a single concessionaire, although concessionaires can deal with multiple junket partners.
Junkets are also prohibited from operating their own VIP rooms within Macau’s casinos or from engaging in revenue share agreements, with all proceeds to be sourced by commission on rolling chip turnover only.