Last week, our sister publication, Asian Gaming Intelligence newsletter, ran a story quoting unofficial figures given to the Singapore media on gaming revenue performance for the first two days of Resorts World Sentosa’s operation.
The original story by reporter Ng Jing Yng for MediaCorp—a state-owned group of commercial media companies in Singapore—quoted unofficial and unnamed sources giving gaming revenue figures of S$40 million (US$28.5 million) for the first two days following Resorts World Sentosa’s midday opening on 14th February.
In the absence of official word from the resort operator Genting, or from Singapore’s Casino Regulatory Authority, the true numbers are currently still a matter of some speculation.
Union Gaming Research in Las Vegas said on Tuesday it believed that in the first two days of operation, the daily gaming revenue from Resorts World Sentosa was a much more modest US$3 million. If the Union Gaming figures are correct, that would suggest the MediaCorp figures for the opening two days were hugely overstated—perhaps by nearly five times.
Union added it believed that from the week of 22nd to 28th February, Resorts World Sentosa had been generating US$7 million to US$8million per day in gaming revenue. That’s S$9.8 million to S$11.2 million per day. Union said it believed Resorts World Sentosa’s gaming revenues are split relatively evenly between VIP (5% gaming tax rate) and mass market (15% gaming tax rate). Union didn’t quote its source for the information.
Even on the more conservative figures quoted by Union Gaming, the Singapore market could be on course for annual gaming revenues of US$2.5 billion to US$3 billion. It’s possible that when Marina Bay Sands, Las Vegas Sands Corp’s rival casino resort in Singapore, opens on 27th April it will cannibalise some of Resorts World Sentosa’s gaming business.
If, however, Marina Bay Sands makes the market grow further, it will put Singapore on course to break comfortably the US$2.1 billion annual market estimate published by CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, an independent brokerage and investment house, earlier this year.
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