Inside Asian Gaming

inside asian gaming December 2016 4 MGS highlights Macau’s great shift to mass market www.asgam.com I f there had been any doubt previously that Macau was ready to plunge headfirst into the future, it was – in my mind at least – dispelled at last month’s MGS Entertainment Show. Wandering from booth to booth, it quickly became clear that the common theme linking many of this year’s exhibitors was eye-catching innovation aimed at diversifying the main gaming floor. From the latest adaptations on traditional table games to spectacular virtual video displays and one particularly notable merging of forces, it seemed clear that manufacturers and operators alike have finally accepted the vital role mass market gaming will play in Macau’s recovery. There is even an air of excitement about it. And so there should be, for just as the severity of Macau’s revenue squeeze caught the local gaming industry off guard a few years back, so too the pace of its recovery over the past three months has come as a pleasant surprise. Since gross gaming revenue (GGR) snapped its 26-month downward trend in August with a small 1.1% year-on-year rise, the good news has kept on coming with 7.4% growth in September, 8.5% in October and now 14.4% in November. It included the news that GGR for the week of 14 to 20 November was up a massive 16% from 2015, likely aided by the almost 5,000 new hotel rooms provided by recent resort openings. And all of this on the back of mass! While it will no doubt take some years yet for Macau’s casino industry to bring revenues back up to the dizzying heights of 2013, there are early signs that it won’t take anywhere near as long as previously feared. They include Galaxy Entertainment Group’s third quarter earnings report, released late October, which obliterated all expectations on the back of huge mass market growth. Galaxy was the first of Macau’s operators to deliberately shift its focus to mass with the opening of Galaxy Phase 2 and Broadway in May 2015 and is now reaping the rewards with the segment up 18% year-on-year from July through September 2016. GEG’s earnings included total GGR growth of 8% at Galaxy Macau on the back of a 19% rise in mass, while StarWorld saw its mass market GGR up 22%. It was this seismic shift on display at MGS where, among a host of new innovations, came the announcement that LT Game is joining forces with EZ Baccarat to trial the popular no- commission variant on its Live Multi-Game terminals at MGM Macau. And another, with Aristocrat revealing it has been given the green light to deploy its ground-breaking slot/baccarat hybrid machines across the city. The government has spoken extensively about diversifying Macau’s non-gaming offerings but just as important is mixing it up on the gaming floor to broaden its appeal to players. From what we can tell, it’s challenge accepted. Ben Blaschke We crave your feedback. Please email your comments to bb@asgam.com . Editorial