• Subscribe
  • Magazines
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
Friday 5 September 2025
  • zh-hant 中文
  • ja 日本語
  • en English
IAG
Advertisement
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
IAG
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
    • Africa
    • Australia
    • Cambodia
    • China
    • CNMI
    • Europe
    • Hong Kong
    • India
    • Japan
    • Laos
    • Latin America
    • Malaysia
    • Macau
    • Nepal
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • North Korea
    • Philippines
    • Russia
    • Singapore
    • South Korea
    • Sri Lanka
    • Thailand
    • UAE
    • Vietnam
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
No Result
View All Result
IAG
No Result
View All Result

Bill Hornbuckle: Macau promotional environment now locked in place despite rapid return of VIPs

Ben Blaschke by Ben Blaschke
Fri 5 Sep 2025 at 06:45
MGM Cotai

MGM Cotai

0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Macau’s notoriously aggressive promotional environment has settled into a rhythm, according to MGM Resorts CEO and President Bill Hornbuckle – despite competition in the premium gaming segments rising as former junket players return to the city in swathes.

Hornbuckle discussed the current state of the Macau market during a Q&A session at the Bank of America Securities 2025 Gaming & Lodging Conference this morning, where he also credited MGM’s efforts in transforming its Macau casino offerings for paving the way for the wider market’s shift towards the premium mass customer. The company has been the biggest mover in the market post-COVID, pushing its market share from below 10% to well above 16% on its concerted promotional efforts, gaming floor optimization and the addition of new suite inventory.

Addressing questions around promotional activity in Macau, for which MGM China has been criticized by some rival concessionaires in the past, Hornbuckle said the situation had never grown out of control but did note that his company led the way in many of the activities that are deemed commonplace today.

“We got very aggressive on the casino floor with what our product needed and wanted to be, and we changed a bunch of things: how we fed people on the floor, how the floor is designed, the padding in the carpet which believe it or not is a real discussion [in Macau], the lighting, the correlation between how you position the games. We went deeply into that in the context of asking customers what they wanted to see, what they wanted to do, what they wanted to participate in, and I think we’ve been rewarded for it. Now others are following suit and that’s not a surprise.

“Fortunately, although it’s always aggressive [in Macau], we haven’t seen it creep out of control, so I think the programming is in play. I think the government watches that all now closely anyway, so I think there is a check and balance on that.

“We’re going to hit a 28% margin, give or take, so I’m excited by where that has gone and where it’s going.”

Hornbuckle also noted that the addition of more villas and suites at peninsula property MGM Macau and its flagship resort MGM Cotai had also allowed it to better serve the premium customer.

“We were under-suite-ed and we are under-roomed given our scale, and we have outperformed,” he said. “Picking up 100 more tables didn’t hurt and if you look back at the old model, we’ve really added 200 tables – 100 new ones plus we had 100 that were tied to junkets and not as productive from a margin perspective as I thought they could be, so now we’ve unleashed all of that and it is paying dividends for us.”

On the state of the premium customer in 2025, Hornbuckle explained that Macau remains an attractive destination for Asia’s high rollers and an “exception” when compared to hotel industry concerns across mainland China.

“What’s happened is the junket tiers have obviously now gone but VIP customers are still coming – and in mass,” he said, “We have seen from Southeast Asia and other places that we have offices in and market to that there has been a big lift. I also think we have a distinct advantage there because others have relied more on junkets historically and therefore have not been established.

“We know the customers, we know where they live, so we’re in a great position to do that.

“The other part of it is that [Beijing has] allowed people to come. If you go back a year or two years ago, they were telling the individual person ‘I’m sorry, you’ve been [to Macau] four times, you can’t go a fifth time’. All of that has stopped for now and I think they’re letting the market run.

“I mean, it’s just over US$30 billion [annual run rate] and I think it’s got some more room to grow. It won’t be US$45 billion anytime soon but I think that’s the reality that we all understand.”

RelatedPosts

A New Macau

Macau GGR now seen hitting US$31.8 billion as Jefferies again upgrades 2025 revenue forecast

Fri 5 Sep 2025 at 05:40
Ciarán Carruthers: Crowning glory

Crown Resorts rolls out AI to improve player protection abilities

Fri 5 Sep 2025 at 05:37
Galaxy Macau signs four-year strategic partnership to bring UFC events to Galaxy Arena

Galaxy Macau signs four-year strategic partnership to bring UFC events to Galaxy Arena

Thu 4 Sep 2025 at 12:13
Travellers Group set to take majority equity position in development of Manila’s LETX hotel and casino to pave completion roadmap, planned to become operator upon launch 

Suntrust begins process of transferring control of Manila’s LETX project to Travellers by acquiring shares in new entity

Thu 4 Sep 2025 at 12:02
Load More
Tags: Bill HornbucklecasinoGamingMacaumarket shareMGM ChinaPromotions
ShareShare
Ben Blaschke

Ben Blaschke

A former sports journalist in Sydney, Australia, Ben has been Managing Editor of Inside Asian Gaming since early 2016. He played a leading role in developing and launching IAG Breakfast Briefing in April 2017 and oversees as well as being a key contributor to all of IAG’s editorial pursuits.

Current Issue

Editorial – Flipping the script

Editorial – Flipping the script

by Ben Blaschke
Thu 28 Aug 2025 at 12:30

This month represents an important milestone for Inside Asian Gaming as we launch IAG EXPO – an expansion of the...

Asia market roundup

Asia market roundup

by Ben Blaschke
Thu 28 Aug 2025 at 12:26

Inside Asian Gaming takes a deep dive into the state of Asia-Pacific’s key gaming markets: who’s hot, who’s not and...

Rewriting the rules

Rewriting the rules

by Newsdesk
Thu 28 Aug 2025 at 11:43

IAG EXPO, taking place at Newport World Resorts from 8 to 10 September, is not your usual trade show. IAG...

Test of character

Test of character

by Newsdesk
Thu 28 Aug 2025 at 11:28

Since its establishment in 1989, Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) has developed into the world’s most trusted name when it comes...

Evolution Asia
Your browser does not support HTML5 video.
Aristocrat
GLI
Nustar
SABA
Mindslot
Solaire
Hann
Tecnet
NWR

Related Posts

AGEM Index up 14.4% in October on Aristocrat, Light & Wonder stock price gains

AGEM Index grows 5% in August as Konami, Aristocrat show strong stock performance

by Newsdesk
Fri 5 Sep 2025 at 05:56

The AGEM Index – a monthly stock performance guide comprising 10 global gaming suppliers – grew by 5.0% month-on-month or 93.66 points to 1,983.73 points in August, with Konami seeing the largest positive contribution. Konami had only last month been...

A New Macau

Macau GGR now seen hitting US$31.8 billion as Jefferies again upgrades 2025 revenue forecast

by Ben Blaschke
Fri 5 Sep 2025 at 05:40

Investment bank Jefferies has again upgraded its Macau GGR forecast for 2025, with analysts now expecting gaming revenues to reach MOP$248 billion (US$31.8 billion) – revised upwards from its previous forecast of MOP$237 billion (US$29.3 billion). In a note, Jefferies...

Ciarán Carruthers: Crowning glory

Crown Resorts rolls out AI to improve player protection abilities

by Newsdesk
Fri 5 Sep 2025 at 05:37

Australia’s Crown Resorts is rolling out artificial intelligence (AI) technology across its gaming floor with a view to better identifying risk distribution among its guests and allowing these risks to be identified and addressed to enhance player protection. The GameScanner...

Galaxy Macau signs four-year strategic partnership to bring UFC events to Galaxy Arena

Galaxy Macau signs four-year strategic partnership to bring UFC events to Galaxy Arena

by Pierce Chan
Thu 4 Sep 2025 at 12:13

Galaxy Entertainment Group has announced a four-year strategic partnership with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to bring three UFC Fight Nights to Galaxy Macau’s Galaxy Arena between 2026 and 2029. Under the partnership Galaxy Arena will host the opening round...

Your browser does not support the video tag.


IAG

© 2005-2025
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • SUBSCRIBE FREE
  • NEWSFEED
  • MAG ARTICLES
  • VIDEO
  • OPINION
  • TAGS
  • REGIONAL
  • EVENTS
  • CONSULTING
  • CONTRIBUTORS
  • MAGAZINES
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • ADVERTISE

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist

No Result
View All Result
  • Subscribe
  • Newsfeed
  • Mag Articles
  • Video
  • Opinion
  • Tags
  • Regional
  • Events
  • Contributors
  • Magazines
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • About
  • Home for G2E Asia

© 2005-2025
Inside Asian Gaming.
All rights reserved.

  • English