First Macau satellite casino to close Wednesday

Macau casino operators will close most of their satellite operations by the end of 2025. The first to go is Casino Grandview in Taipa. Concessionaire SJM Holdings will close the satellite effective 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, ahead of schedule.

Merchants in the city have worried the closures will reduce foot traffic around satellite venues. Their fears are justified, says Iun Ioc Va, president of the Industry and Commerce Federation of Islands of Macau.

“Apart from Casino Grandview, other satellite and gaming venues in the area are also set to close by year-end,” Iun told TDM, per Macau Business. “Foot traffic is expected to fall by half, which will inevitably have a significant impact on the business environment.

“We’ve seen shops in the area relocate, and some nearby stores have remained vacant for some time,” he added.

In 2022, Macau amended its gaming laws. Among other changes, it directed that concessionaires run the satellites, not third-party investors that piggybacked on their licences. Lawmakers also ordered that satellites no longer share gaming revenues, but receive management fees instead.

The government gave concessionaires three years to transition to the new model. For the most part, they opted to phase out the smaller operations.

In June, the Macau government and three of the city’s gaming concessionaires announced that nine of 11 satellites would close by 31 December. Only Ponte 16 and L’Arc Macau, doing business under the SJM licence, are expected to survive. SJM plans to acquire the properties and shift them to the directly managed model.

‘End of an era’ puts thousands of jobs on the line

The remaining closures support SJM’s “long-term objectives [and] overall competitiveness”, the company said in a statement. All workers — including 159 at Casino Grandview — will receive “job opportunities within SJM Resorts’ portfolio of properties”. Citywide, the transition could affect 6,000 jobs.

SJM said it’s committed to “safeguarding local employment. All local employees employed by SJM will remain employed and be reassigned to other casinos of SJM to undertake gaming-related roles according to operational needs. [They] will be provided with the necessary support, depending on the actual situation, to facilitate a smooth transition.”

Other SJM properties on the block include Casa Real, Emperor Palace, Fortuna, Kam Pek Paradise, Landmark and Legend Palace. Melco Resorts will close up shop at its only satellite, Grand Dragon Casino, also in Taipa. Galaxy Entertainment Group will shutter its sole satellite, Waldo Casino on the Macau Peninsula.

The Macau Statistics and Census Service reported an unemployment rate of 1.9 percent in April. According to Macao News, adding affected satellite workers would boost the jobless rate to 3.4 percent. That’s the highest level since 2022, when Macau was still grappling with Covid lockdowns. However, Melco and Galaxy, like SJM, have pledged to reassign most employees to similar jobs at other casinos. 

IGamix managing partner Ben Lee has compared smaller casinos to corner pubs that attract a distinctly local crowd. He said the end of satellite casinos is also “the end of an era”.