Three satellite casinos close

Three satellite casinos in Macau announced their closure in June 2022, during the transition to a revised gaming law¹.

Satellite casinos are venues that hold no gaming concession in law and instead operate gaming through revenue-sharing agreements signed privately with a concession holder¹. The article said their legal status was unclear, and cited Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng telling the Legislative Assembly on 13 April that "because the original law did not define satellite casinos, the government cannot protect satellite casinos without a legal basis"¹.

The first draft of the new gaming law, submitted to the legislature on 14 January, would have required gaming operations to be run on assets owned by the concessionaire, with a three-year transition period¹. Under pressure, the government softened the final text: the transition provisions no longer force concessionaires to acquire satellite casino assets, existing contracts between concessionaires and satellite casinos can continue for the first three years of the new law, and after three years satellite casinos can keep operating by hiring a management company¹.

The revised law keeps the number of gaming concessions at a maximum of six and holds the special gaming tax at 35 percent, with 2 percent of gross gaming revenue going to a public fund for cultural, social, economic, educational, scientific, academic and charitable activities and 3 percent to urban development, tourism promotion and social security, for an effective rate of 40 percent¹.

• The concession term is now ten years¹.
• Concessionaires must hold company capital of not less than 500 million patacas, up from 200 million patacas in the old text¹.
• Shareholders holding 5 percent or more of a concessionaire's capital are jointly liable for administrative fines imposed on the company, and the Chief Executive may unilaterally terminate a concession if the operator acts against national or Macau SAR security¹.

The article linked the changes to the crackdown on junket business. It said Chau Chi-wa, executive chairman of Suncity Group, was arrested, and that under the new law each junket operator may work with only one concessionaire and may only earn commission, and may not share casino revenue with a concessionaire in any way¹.

What it means for players

The closures reduce the number of places to play in Macau, though the article does not name the three venues or say how many tables or staff were affected¹. The revised law keeps six concessions and the 35 percent special gaming tax, so the main floor offering is not being cut back by the law itself¹. The bigger change is on the junket side: junkets can now work with only one concessionaire and cannot share casino revenue, which the article says will sharply cut VIP room income and its share of operator revenue¹. For players who used junket-run VIP rooms, that channel is being narrowed, and the article does not report what replaces it.

What happens next

Existing contracts between concessionaires and satellite casinos can run for the first three years of the new law, after which satellite casinos may continue by hiring a management company¹.

The article says the concession term approved under the new law is ten years¹.