Inside Asian Gaming

IAG SEP 2020年9月 亞博匯 58 COLUMNISTS T he unanticipated duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic necessitates a re-think about the timing of the upcoming tender of concessions to operate casino games of chance in Macau. While the impact of the pathogen on the casino industry globally has been far from uniform, it is significant for Macau that the United States has been hit particularly hard, and at this stage appears a long way off bringing its public health emergency under control. Half of the six current concession contracts are held by companies affiliated with Nevada gaming licensees. Gaming revenue in Nevada in April was down 99% on the same month of 2019. It has since continued to plumb depths neither seen nor imagined. While gaming revenue generally represents less than half of all revenues generated by those companies, their income from entertainment, dining and retail offerings has fallen commensurately with the decline in gaming win. Social distancing has largely seen to that. Macau of course has not fared much better, with gaming revenue down 97% in June, and almost 95% in July. While there are some positive indications that Macau may be over the worst, it remains to be seen whether its source markets move in parallel. In the improbable event they do, the residual damage to economies and confidence will constrain the enthusiasm of many to travel to Macau, much less carry on gaming and spending as they did before the virus arrived. While it remains unknown what the SAR government’s expectations are for the outcomes of the tender process, as recently as April the Secretary for Economy and Finance was implying that the government would expect more from the next round than it achieved from the 2002 process. “Gaming liberalization in 2003 (sic) and the re- tendering in 2022 are two different discussions at 新 冠病毒大流行的持續時間及嚴重程度實在出 乎所有人的預料，這亦令到各界需就將要來 臨的澳門娛樂場博彩營運承批競投的時機再 次作出考量。 雖然這種病毒對於世界各地賭業的影響都不 盡相同，但對澳門有特別重要意義的，就是美國受到了特別嚴重 的衝擊，以及在此時此刻，仍未知這次公共衛生緊急情件何時才 能在該國受控。 現在掌握澳門博彩批給合同的六間公司中，有一半都與內華 達州賭牌持有人有關。內華達州的博彩收入在今年4月同比下跌 99%，並且繼續向從未見過的低處下沉。 雖然博彩收入一般都只佔那些公司總收入不到一半，但其娛 樂、飲食及零售收入，亦與博彩收入一樣大幅下挫，相關原因很大 程度是由於社區隔離措施。 澳門當然亦無法獨善其身，在6月的博彩收入下跌97%，而7 月則下跌近95%。雖然已經有一些正面的跡象顯示，澳門可能已 經捱過了最壞的時刻，但依然未知當地的主要客源有否一起脫離 險境。即便他們真的脫險，但在經濟及信心方面的那些殘餘下來 的損傷，將會令很多人對於到澳門旅遊的熱情大大減少，而且更 少人會繼續像疫情來襲前那般博彩及消費。 雖然現在仍未知道澳門特區政府對於賭牌競投的結果有甚 麼預測，但澳門經濟財政司在4月間曾暗示，政府希望能夠在將來 的競投時，取得比2002年的競投過程更多的成就。 他說：「2022年重新競投賭牌與2003年開放賭權是兩個不同 層次。」 「2003年時澳門沒有條件選擇，但現時具備更多條件、更大 空間選擇博彩業『點行』。」 但當八月已過尾聲之時，實在難以有著與司長一樣的信心。