Macau Casinos Agreed to Invest $16 Billion in Nongaming, Lawmakers Question if Pledge Being Upheld

Posted on: April 1, 2025, 12:54h. 

Last updated on: March 31, 2025, 02:22h.

Devin O'Connor @CasinoorgDevinO Read More
Expertise: Asia Pacific Gaming, Commercial Gaming, Legislation, Politics.
  • Macau casinos continue to invest in nongaming
  • The local government is tracking the casinos’ investments
  • Visitation and gaming revenue remains below 2019 levels

Macau casino operators agreed to invest billions of dollars each into their casino resorts in exchange for license extensions. The bulk of the financial commitment was required to go to nongaming projects and amenities designed to diversify Macau’s economy away from gambling.

Macau casinos non-gaming investments
The Secretary for Economy and Finance, Tai Kin Ip, attends a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly, to review and vote on the opinion letter by the Legislative Assembly’s Second Standing Committee regarding the Government’s Reports on Budget Implementation on March 28, 2025. Macau casinos continue to invest in nongaming projects. (Image: Macau Government Information Bureau)

Lawmakers in the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR), one of two SARs under Chinese control along with Hong Kong, have raised concerns about how the local government is tracking the nongaming casino investments. Many wonder if the casinos are following through with their pledge made in 2022 in exchange for new 10-year licenses.

Each year, concessionaires are required to submit to the government the implementation status of the previous year and the investment plan for the coming year,” Tai Kin Ip, Macau’s secretary for economy and finance, said in response to lawmakers during a plenary session of the Legislative Assembly. “The government does monitor the investment situation.”

Ip, who only became economy and finance secretary last December, added that the local government has hired a third-party monitor to ensure that the nongaming guarantee is being executed.

Ongoing Reviews

Ip told lawmakers that a central mission of his Economy and Finance Office is guaranteeing that Sands, Galaxy, Wynn, MGM, Melco, and SJM carry out their nongaming minimum investment requirements.

The 2022 licensing terms initially required the six companies to jointly invest MOP118.8 billion (US$14.8 billion) into their resorts, with more than 90%, or around $13.3 billion, supposed to go to investments off of the gaming floors.

The 2022 licensing terms came with a provision that increased the overall investment mandate by approximately $4.5 billion should the casinos win more than $22.7 billion in a given year, which they accomplished in 2023. That took the total nongaming money stipulation upwards of $16 billion.

Ip explained that his office is requiring each casino to submit an annual report detailing project breakdowns showing that it is following through on nongaming investments like amusement and theme parks, sports facilities, cultural centers, hotel expansions, and more convention space. 

Risky Bets

Macau casinos agreed to diversify their resorts as China ordered the SAR to limit VIP junket operators. China President Xi Jinping instructed Macau to force out most travel organizers, which for many years had helped the mainland’s wealthiest citizens move their cash through the casino tax haven.

With fewer high rollers in town, Macau casinos continue to pivot from the VIP to the premium mass and mass public player. To warrant their billions of dollars in nongaming investments, they’ll also need to greatly increase general leisure travel from the mainland to the enclave.

Last year, total visitor arrivals to Macau totaled 34.9 million people. That remained 11% lower, or 4.5 million fewer people, than the 39.4 million travelers who ventured into Macau in prepandemic 2019.

Gross gaming revenue was $28.3 billion in 2024, or 77.5% of 2019 levels.