Wynn Doubles Down On Macau With $4.1 Billion Palace Casino Opening

Economy, Featured Jamie Simon
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As the biggest casino market in the world stays within the clutches of a gaming flop, the luxurious Wynn Palace on Monday in Macau, costing $4.1 billion and six years in the making, threw open its doors. Macau has been enduring Beijing’s campaign against corruption, China’s economic slowdown, mass-market players who transitioned from high-roller gamblers, and so on.

Money flow from Chinese high-roller gamblers has been restricted, and the ranks of casino junket operators lowered due to the clampdown by the government. The casinos hire middlemen called junkets who are commissioned to attract the wealthy VIP gamblers from China’s mainland. On a year-over-year basis, gross gaming revenues have dropped 4.5 percent during the month with July marking the 26th consecutive decline in monthly gaming revenue decline in Macau.

Wynn Palace intends to focus on what they called premium-mass gamblers which have made some industry analysts confident about the 1,700 room mega resort outlook. The Macau slowdown did not affect this gaming sector as much as it did the VIP market. There are several VIP features in the new resort including garden villas, high-end suites, junket rooms and special tables. The artwork collection of the new resort which includes a sculpture by Jeff Koons, an American artist is worth north of $125 million. The “Tulips” sculpture is made of stainless steel and weighs 3 tons. There are also air-conditioned gondolas, a performance lake fountain show, and looking over the South China Sea is a rooftop garden.

There were concerns before the Palace opening that the gaming growth could be hindered by gaming table caps set by Macau authorities. In a bid to encourage non-gaming activities offered by resorts, the table policy currently caps table growth supply to 3 percent each year.

Amid the current gaming slowdown, the risk of oversupply is increasing as several multibillion-dollar resorts intend to open in Macau soon.