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Casino revenues in Macau dropped by 20% in June, when compared with May’s figures, due to casino goers preferring to bet on the World Cup. Reports issued this month have revealed that revenue dropped to 13.6 billion patacas (approximately £1.5 billion), when compared with’ May’s figure, of 17.1 billion patacas. Karen Tang, an analyst at Deutsch Bank, has suggested that revenue in Macau’s casinos will continue to be hit “as the World Cup approaches its final stages”. However, Tang also noted that it’s likely revenue will increase once again in August, “which is traditionally the summer travel season”. After news was released of the gambling revenue decrease, the share prices of Macau casino operators dropped. In particular, SJM Holdings, the company behind several casinos in Macau, share price dropped by 6.7%.
While certain forms of gambling, such as sports betting, are illegal in China, it’s believed that football fans eager to wager on the outcome of the World Cup have been placing bets through gambling rings. In June, China’s anti-gambling police unit arrested a gambling ring which had taken over HK$100 million (pound;7.9 million) in bets on the World Cup. Police have also arrested other, smaller gambling rings, which have netted millions of pounds from the World Cup.
