MGM Resorts Extends Casino Branding Deal in China’s Macau Through License Term
Posted on: December 29, 2025, 10:32h.
Last updated on: December 29, 2025, 10:41h.
- MGM Resorts will continue licensing its brand to MGM China
- MGM will receive a heftier monthly licensing fee from MGM China beginning in 2026
Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International has agreed to continue lending its iconic brand to MGM China through the life of the company’s gaming concession in Macau, which is set to terminate in 2032.
MGM China is jointly owned by MGM Resorts and Hong Kong billionaire Pansy Ho. Under the extended terms of the branding agreement between the two companies, MGM China will double its monthly license fee to MGM Resorts from 1.75% to 3.5%. The monthly payment is based on MGM China’s adjusted consolidated net revenue.
The revised terms are good through the current concession or Dec. 31, 2045, should the license be further extended. MGM China, along with the five other gaming licenses in Macau, received 10-year casino concession extensions in December 2022.
MGM Resorts holds approximately 55.95% of the issued share capital of MGM China. Ho maintains an approximate ownership position of 22.49%. Ho is the chairperson and executive director of the MGM China Board of Directors.
MGM China owns and operates two integrated resort casinos in Macau, with MGM Macau and MGM Cotai.
Market Share Increases
In announcing the extension of the branding deal, MGM China revealed that its market share of the Macau gaming industry, the world’s richest in terms of annual gaming revenue, has surged from approximately 9% in prepandemic 2019 to roughly 16% in 2025. MGM Resorts says the new terms eliminate the need for the parties to negotiate new agreements every three years, which the company claims “protects MGM China’s shareholders by securing its most important intangible asset after the concession itself.”
Analysts, however, believe the doubling of the monthly fee is a bad deal for MGM China in the near term. Morgan Stanley slashed its EBITDA estimates for MGM China by 7%.
The royalty payments are roughly 15% of its corporate EBITDA, double what it had been … and significantly higher than peers,” the brokerage said.
Sands China, the market leader in Macau, pays its parent, Las Vegas Sands, a 1.5% monthly revenue fee. Wynn Macau pays Wynn Resorts 3%.
We do not see a reason for any company to raise payouts,” the Morgan Stanley note concluded.
The payouts come after MGM and the five other casino operators in Macau were forced to invest more than $16 billion in nongaming initiatives in exchange for their 10-year gaming extensions. MGM pledged more than $2 billion to projects outside its two casino floors.
MGM Resorts, Ho Big Winners
MGM Resorts and Ho stand to benefit the most from the higher monthly licensing fees. CBRE Equity Research projects the 2026 fees to total around $166 million.
The amended branding terms require that 66.6% of the monthly fee go to MGM Resorts, with Ho retaining the balance. The monthly fee in 2023 totaled $55.18 million, and in 2024, climbed to $70.39 million.
In 2024, MGM China accounted for $4 billion of MGM Resorts’ $17.24 billion in net revenue. Casino revenue from MGM’s business in Macau was almost $3.5 billion, far higher than the $2 billion MGM’s casinos on the Las Vegas Strip generated.
No comments yet