Inside Asian Gaming

IAG NOV 2019年11月 亞博匯 87 2019 亞博匯50強 CLAIMS TO FAME • Long-time confidante of James Packer • Background as an Australian media powerbroker 名成事跡 • 詹姆斯·帕克爾長期以來知心朋友 • 本身是澳洲傳媒界大腕 29 EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN Crown Resorts 執行主席 皇冠度假酒店集團 JOHN ALEXANDER ALMOST three years into his tenure as Executive Chairman of Crown Resorts, John Alexander hasn’t had much time to sit back and smell the roses. Appointed to the top job in January 2017, much of Alexander’s focus since has been on restoring the company’s battered reputation after guiding it through the fallout from having 19 employees arrested – and 16 of them jailed – in mainland China in 2016. But achieving that goal was made infinitely more difficult in July of this year following a series of explosive reports from three Australian media outlets alleging links between Crown and Asian crime syndicates and questioning the company’s relationship with junket operators. Although the content of those reports relied heavily on pushing highly tentative links and exhibited a basic misunderstanding of standard industry practices – particularly around how operators like Crown attract high rollers – the subsequent outcry from anti-gambling politicians ultimately saw regulators in both NSW and Victoria launch inquiries. Those inquiries are ongoing, although they have already delayed completion of a deal between Melco Resorts & Entertainment and Crown’s biggest shareholder, James Packer, that would see Melco acquire a 19.99% stake in the Australian casino operator. Assuming regulators give the green light, Crown will be hopeful of better days ahead in the premium space after seeing VIP turnover fall 26% to AU$38 billion in the 12 months to 30 June 2019. Melco’s investment comes with a promise to send some players Down Under, while the launch of Crown’s AU$2.2 billion Sydney casino in 2021 aims to provide them with an attractive place to play. 作為 皇冠度假酒店集團的執行主席已經差不多三年，但John Alexander並沒有 太多時間可以坐下來享受悠閒時刻。 集團的19名員工在2016年於中國大陸被拘捕，當中16名更被監禁。而於 2017年1月被委以重任的Alexander，在上任後專注於拯救公司那受損的聲譽。 但要達成這個目標的道路卻於今年7月變得無限遙遠。這是因為澳洲的三 間傳媒機構作出了一系列爆炸性報道，指控皇冠與亞洲犯罪團夥有關連，並且 質疑該公司與博彩中介營運商之間的關係。雖然那些報導的內容很大程度上都 是建基於一些未能確認的聯繫之上，亦對於行業內一般運作手法表演出一種根 本上的誤解，特別是關於像皇冠這樣的營運商如何吸引高額投注玩家一事。而 隨後一些反對賭博的政客亦對此表達強烈意見，最終令到新南威爾士州及維多 利亞州的監管機構開展調查。 雖然這些調查仍在進行當中，但它們已令到新濠博亞娛樂與皇冠最大股 東詹姆斯·帕克爾的一個讓新濠購入皇冠這個澳洲娛樂場營運商19.99%股權 的交易受到阻延。 假使監管機構都對此次收購表示同意，皇冠在高端市場方面的前路有望 變得更加光明，畢竟截至2019年6月30日的12個月內，該公司的貴賓營業額下 跌至380億澳元，跌幅為26%。新濠的投資計劃，就包括承諾把一些玩家送到這 片南方大地上。而皇冠將於2021年開幕、耗資22億澳元的悉尼物業，正是希望為 這些玩家提供一個具吸引力的地方，讓他們玩樂。 POWER SCORE 權能指數 : 921 POSITION LAST YEAR 去年排名 : 27