2013 has been a doozy of a year for casinos all over the world. From record revenues to incredible declines, there wasn’t a shortage of relevant casino news that made our pages. So with two weeks left in the year, it’s high-time to take a look at what news fell through the cracks and what rose to the top.
Japan’s casino legislation
On a year dominated by casino news all over the world, nothing stood out more than the potential opening of what’s already being touted as the second biggest gambling market in the world: Japan.
Numerous attempts at opening Japan up to casino gambling have been made in the past, but it only gained steam with the electoral victory of Shinzo Abe as the country’s new prime minister in July. With Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) controlling both houses of the Diet, the push towards legalizing land-based casinos in the country become all too real. Then, Tokyo won the rights to host the 2020 Summer Olympics and the pro-casino movement gained even more momentum.
With all these chips falling into place, the question of whether Japan would legalize land-based casinos has somewhat become a formality of sorts. It’s come to the point that a number of world-class operators have already voiced their interest in bidding for these casino licenses in Japan and with the LDP beating the deadline to submit the casino bill before the current parliament session ended, 2014 is shaping up to be dominated up developments on how fast the country can legalize these brick-and-mortar establishments.
EuroVegas scrapped
News just broke last week of Las Vegas Sands‘ decision to scrap the highly anticipated EuroVegas project in Madrid so the reality really hasn’t sunk in yet. Disputes between the casino operator and the Spanish government on key issues derailed the project before it even began, putting to bed what could have been one of the biggest resorts and casino projects in the world.
It was supposed to kick-start Spain’s sorry employment state, which right now sits at an alarming 27 percent. EuroVegas also promised 250,000 employment opportunities, so its a very bitter pill to swallow for all parties involved knowing that the project is off the table and LVS is now looking at more opportunities in Asia to expand its casino empire.
But as far as EuroVegas is concerned, that’s all in the dirt now.
Solaire Resort & Casino opens in Entertainment City
The promise of big things for Entertainment City in the Philippines received its first shot in the arm with the opening of Bloomberry Resorts’ Solaire Resort & Casino back in March. Years of planning and development culminated in a landmark moment for Bloomberry and the Philippine Amusement & Gaming Corporation with the opening of Solaire, the first of the four world-class integrated resorts that will make up a majority of the Entertainment City air space.
With City of Dreams Manila, which is co-developed by Melco Crown and Belle Corporation, expected to open in 2014, the dreams of Entertainment City are slowly becoming a reality and 2013 will forever be remembered as the year when the Philippines stamped its name as a prime-time player in the Asian casino market.
Casino arms-race in Asia
For all the attention Macau and Singapore generate as two of the world’s biggest gambling market, it’s important to remember that 2013 was also the year when other Asian countries announced their intentions of being factors in the regional casino scene. Vietnam opened its first world-class resort and casino, the Grand Ho Tram Strip. Same thing with India, which is set to open its own world-class casino next year.
Even Sri Lanka made news because of James Packer’s plan to develop the country’s first world-class resort, as did Taiwan and its proposed Matsu Island casino hub, and Russia with all those talks about developing an entertainment zone in the Primorye region just outside Vladivostok.
And let’s not forget about Japan, which is poised to become one of the biggest markets in the world if its casino legislation is acted on quickly.
Macau continues to rise
Macau’s record gross revenue haul for the year only underscored the city’s already sparkling reputation as the world’s number one gambling destination. As far as competition goes, there really isn’t any considering the continuous record revenues the city’s casinos posted on a per month basis compared to their numbers from a year ago.
From January to November of 2013, Macau has already posted MOP327.29 billion in gross revenues, and that’s with one month left in the calendar year. Convert that to USD and you’re looking at earnings of $42.2 billion, staggering numbers but all that surprising considering the number of people, a lot of whom are of the high-rolller variety, who enjoy their gambling spoils in the only place in China where its legal.
Based on estimates, Macau could earn somewhere around MOP355 billion, which is about $45.8 billion based on current exchange rates.
Yep. In the words of Rod Tidwell, “show me the money!!!”
Atlantic City continues to sink
For all of the gambling money being poured in Macau, the flip side is happening in Atlantic City, once considered the bastion of gambling in the East Coast of the US. Right now, it’s a shell of its old self, and that may even be putting it lightly.
Of the 11 months on record so far, Atlantic City’s overall revenue only saw upticks in October and November and even that comes with a huge asterisk, one we shall call Hurricane Sandy.
For the entire year until November, Atlantic City’s total revenue haul sits at a paltry $2.7 billion, 6.1% from the same period last year. With only a month left to the year and little hope that a Festivus miracle happens for a third straight month, the AC could be looking at a total gaming revenue that falls under $3 billion, the worst showing for the beleaguered casino town in over 20 years. Oh, and by comparison, Macau’s gross revenue figures from November amounted to MOP30.179 billion, which about $3.8 billion, well clear of what Atlantic City’s total for the entire year.
Meanwhile, the opening of the online gambling market should have some positive and negative effects for those casinos in Atlantic City offering it. On the one hand, its a new source of revenue that none of them had at their disposal this time last year. But on the flip side, questions on how online gambling throughout the state will affect the number of people who actually go to the casinos are being floated around – and for good reason. With gambling now legal from the comforts of your own home, why go to AC to enjoy it?
Right now, it’s too early to tell how much online gambling will help or hurt Atlantic City casinos. It’s an interesting quagmire that should be cleared up next year and the years after that.
New York gets its casino expansion
New York governor Andrew Cuomo can now rest easy this holiday season, knowing that all the work he put in to his quest to have more casinos in the state finally reached a positive conclusion this year.
it didn’t come easy, and the governor had to come to agreements with a number of Native American tribes in the state, but after months of negotiating to go with a seemingly endless list of issues that propped up at inopportune times, Cuomo and all those in favor of expanding casinos in the state got what they wanted.
The referendum was approved, which meant that a total of seven full-scale casinos are now in play, opening the proverbial floodgates for operators to take stab at securing a license to develop their own projects in the state. A catch in the referendum means that the state can only give out four casino licenses in the time-being with the other to be determined at a much later date.
But that caveat is inconsequential in the bigger scheme of things. The important thing was that the referendum was approved. Now comes the equally daunting task of choosing among all those interested operators on who gets dibs on those four licenses.
