Inside Asian Gaming

AUGUST 2018 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 23 COVER STORY 2021, the 271-meter tower will boast a six-star hotel, Sydney’s most expensive residential apartments and a casino designated exclusively for VIPs. Barangaroo will make Crown the only company operating casinos in each of Australia’s two biggest cities, potentially providing a decisive edge as competition between the local heavyweights heats up. Yet even in its current state as a busy harbourside construction site, Crown Sydney hasn’t escaped the fallout from China. “The interesting thing with Crown is that the long-term repercussions the China arrests have on the VIP market will actually be the business case for Crown Sydney, because that AU$2.2 billion property really only makes sense if you have VIP,” Carducci says. “It’s a VIP-only casino and if all of a sudden you don’t have VIP turnover and that’s not reflected in the numbers, it makes it much more difficult to present that business case with positive ROIs.” According to Carducci, Crown must find a way to re-build VIP turnover before launch for Barangaroo to remain feasible, while he fully expects a request to add high-end slot machines to its gaming offerings “to moderate the downside.” In the meantime, with gambler preference now strongly leaning its way, Star Entertainment Group has no intention of looking back. “We embarked more than two years ago on a diversification strategy in relation to VIP,” Bekier told IAG . “At the half-year we said the diversification strategy was proving effective with continued higher growth in markets other than North Asia. “We also said we are seeing strong growth in VIP from all customer segments as market conditions return to normal.” Sydney will soon be the only city in Australia where Crown Resorts and Star Entertainment Group both operate integrated resorts. Cranes prepare the future site of Crown Sydney , due for completion in 2021. An artist’s impression of the completed Barangaroo site, with Crown Sydney soaring highest on the left.