Inside Asian Gaming

INSIDE ASIAN GAMING | May 2010 26 Market Outlook believe that it will be the stronger segment compared toRWSdue to thehigher qualityof product offering and better VIP marketing.” CLSA said LVS had been the more aggressive of the two operators in opening proportionately more of its gaming floor from day one compared to RWS. “MBS launched with almost over 550 tables in total, a statement that the casino is fully fitted out from the first day. This is in comparison to the soft-launch strategy to RWS, which started with fewer than 300 tables and have since ramped up to circa 450 tables by now. Table split between both casinos are still around 20-30% VIP and the balance for mass-market,” states the research paper. Downside surprise The authors added, however, they were surprised by lower than expected numbers at the mass market tables at Marina Bay Sands during their visits throughout the day. “MBS mass-market gaming was surprising. The under-utilisation of the mass-market gaming floor is perplexing, as we expected a stronger showing given the existing familiarity with gaming now that RWS has been open for over two months already. We possibly attribute [it] to [MBS] having too many tables upfront, and yields would have been better with 15-20% fewer tables based on the crowd we observed.” CLSA added that if RWS has made effective use of its first mover advantage and managed to sign up Singapore citizens or permanent residents as table players under the S$2,000 annual entry fee or enrol foreign players under its loyalty card programmes, that could have an impact on MBS’s mass table performance. “We hope that MBS VIP could be the swing factor,” state the authors. In its summary of the IRs prospects, CLSA says it expects MBS’s proximity to the city centre, including the central business district and banking district, to help it do well with walk in visitors—especially in the retail and dining segments. “MBS will see high overall foot-traffic. The iconic status of the building is a tourist attraction in its own right and will see a steady stream of visitors to the overall site over time. Many other attractions such as the SkyPark, museums, and conventions have yet to ramp up and will further boost traffic,” says the CLSA research paper. Visitors The analysts quote industry sources as estimating MBS’s daily traffic immediately after its soft opening as between 36,000 and 50,000 people per day. VIP gaming at MBS—artist’s impression CLSA’s comparison of the Singapore IR’s gaming offer Source: CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets Southeast Asia’s only Universal Studios theme park is located at RWS