Market analysts opine that the COVID-19 pandemic made China realize Macau casinos were not invulnerable to the resulting health and economic crisis. Currently confronted with declining junket trips that wealthy gamblers from China and other countries took as regular recreation, the possibility that Macau will allow online gambling looms ahead.
According to market reports, visitations went down by as much as 70% when compared to the figures reported for the same period last year. A casino marketing expert was quoted to have said that the pandemic should be perceived as a wake-up call not only by China but by other Asian countries as well; that there is a need for them to legalize online gambling forr economic reasons.
Activist Investor Sees the Wisdom of Embracing Online Gambling in Macau
Jason Adler, the managing partner of SpringOwl Asset Management, who has a sound reputation for being an activist investor, said that the coronavirus crisis developed into a situation in which even land-based casino patrons were constrained to engage in online gambling,
As a note to Mr, Adler’s comments, although Asian governments consider the gambling operation as taking place in illegal online gambling sites, many are actually Judi Online casinos and sportsbooks that operate under the licensing and supervision of the Philippine government’s PAGCOR.
That being the case, avid gamblers in China and Southeast Asian countries look to them as Judi Online Terpercaya or trusted online gambling sites. That is why, as a result, Mr. Adler said that the only gambling market in Asia that was able to withstand the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak is the Philippines. In fact, PAGCOR gave several remote online gambling operators permission to operate during the mandatory lockdown periods, for as long as they were up to date with their tax payments.
The Investor activist explained that Asia is still the Wild West of the online gambling industry,from which land-based casino operators are not benefitting business wise. While the European companies are in the lead, the Philippines along with its Philippine Offshore Gambling Operators or POGOs are currently picking up the second ranking spot next to Europe.
Macau Lawmaker Made Calls to Macau Government to Legalize Online Gambling in the Territory
Macau lawmaker Jose Maria Pereira Coutinho had apparently listened to the arguments, as he is now urging the territorial government of Macau to make online gambling legal.
As it is, Macau’s gross gaming revenue between January to August went down by as much as 81.6%, to which casinos reported only about $4.5 billion as winnings. The contrast is quite stark when compared to what the six licensed casino operators in the Chinese territory raked in as winnings in 2019, which amounted to roughly $24.8 billion during the same 8-month period.
The reality is that Macau’s government relies mainly on casino gambling as sources of tax revenues. Macau casinos account for nearly 90% of the government sources of revenue. Since the pandemic continues to affect economies worldwide, Mr. Coutinho strongly believes that permitting Macau casinos to offer their gambling products and services online is at the moment, the most viable remedy.