August Gross Gaming Revenue in Macau Down 94.5%

Asia’s most prosperous gaming hub, Macau, has seen better days as the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reports the 94.5% annual decline in gross gaming revenue to MOP$1.33 billion.

This is almost identical to July’s MOP$1.34 billion. It’s been five months in a row since Macau’s GGR has fell over 90%.

The Unprecedented Decline

Guangdong and Macau governments have introduced the Individual Visit Scheme for residents of Zhuhai from the August 12th…

…while the whole of Guangdong Province from the August 26th.

For the first eight months of 2020, GGR of Macau is down 81.6% year-on-year. So far, in total, the gaming hub managed to collect MOP $36.39 billion compared to MOP$198.22 billion over the same period in 2019.

Macau, home of some of the most iconic gaming venues, has started to feel the negative impact of global pandemic in late January. It has closed down every gambling-friendly establishment once there were more than 10 confirmed cases.

The implementation of 14-day quarantine for people traveling between Macau and China or Hong Kong has severely impacted Macau.

MGM Resorts was among the first to react and report big losses as soon as Macau Casinos closed.

The History of Closure

In February, Macau was shut down for the first time…

…and in March, when new cases of disease emerged, it was shut down once again, this time more permanently.

Authorities in the city decided to activate an additional isolation period after a Spanish businessman landed in Macau on Monday, March 16. The patient reportedly tested positive, despite all measures for preventing the infections. The 47-year-old businessman was the twelfth Macau patient affected by a coronavirus.

Source:

“Macau GGR down 94.5% in August”, asgam.com, September 1st, 2020.