Shares of gaming companies soared during Monday trading after city officials in Macau said they would ease restrictions on visitors from mainland China, with groups potentially allowed to return to the gambling metropolis as early as October.
Getting people back onto the felt in Macau is a big deal as the region is — by some distance — the largest gambling hotspot in the world. In the last “normal” year, 2019, Macau registered some $36bn+ in gaming revenue, almost six times the $6.6bn that Las Vegas reportedly notched up.
Wynn some, lose some
Despite being a Special Administrative Region of China, Macau, which used to be a Portuguese territory, has been at the whim of Chinese policymakers for years. China's 2014 anti-corruption crackdown aimed to take the "perks" out of public office, scaring off high-roller friends of the political elite and substantially reducing Macau's revenue for much of 2014-2016. A slow recovery ensued, only for the pandemic to decimate the industry at large.
Although the house always wins is a common refrain, the actual running of the house can be a costly endeavor. Even with rooms, food and entertainment accounting for almost as much revenue as the gambling itself, Wynn Resorts still made a ~$400m operating loss in 2021. Macau's comeback can't come soon enough for Wynn.
