High-rolling gamblers accounted for just 60.5% of Macau casinos’ overall gaming revenue in 2014, down from 73% in 2013. Figures released on Friday by Macau’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (DICJ) showed VIP revenue of MOP 212.54b in 2014, down 11% from the previous year. Macau reported an overall revenue decline of 2.6% in 2014, the first annual decline since the special administrative region began releasing financial data in 2002.
Were it not for respectable showings in H1 2014, the VIP decline would have been much worse. Figures for the fourth quarter show VIP revenue down 29%, mirroring December’s record-setting 30.4% overall revenue decline. Macau’s seven-months-and-counting revenue slide is primarily the result of VIPs giving Macau a wide berth so as not to get caught in the headlights of China’s crackdown on corruption.
On the plus side, Macau’s mass-market sector (including slots) saw its revenue rise 13.7% in 2014, despite a 16.2% revenue decline in Q4. Slots revenue all on its own nudged up a mere 0.4% to MOP 14.4b in 2014, just 4% of the overall revenue pie.
The number of gaming tables in action in Q4 was 5,711, down 39 units from Q4 2013. The ranks of active slots fell by 88 to 13,018 machines.
Revenue from ‘live multi-game’ tables – which seat dozens of mass-market gamblers and utilize live dealers and electronic bet settlement – earned MOP 2.26b in 2014, which seems a pittance but represents a 51.7% gain over 2013’s total.
Macau’s greyhound and horseracing revenue experienced a downturn in 2014, falling 18.5% and 16% respectively. The 2014 FIFA World Cup helped boost Macau Slot‘s football sports lottery sales up over 29% to MOP 598m while basketball sales fell 8% to MOP 138m despite a nearly 15% rise in betting turnover.
