Gaming | Football betting hurts Macau casinos

Fans celebrate during a Euro 2016 match

The Euro 2016 football tournament is contributing to a further slowing of Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR), according to Japanese brokerage Nomura.
Previous instances of major footballing tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro Championships have shown a negative correlation with Macau’s GGR, as punters put their money on football betting rather than the MSAR’s casino tables.
“With a lower-than-­expected VIP win rate of 2.7 percent (versus theoretic average of 2.85 percent) and the impact from the commencement of the EuroCup (from 11 June onwards), average daily gaming revenue, excluding slots, was down 22 percent week-­on-week to HKD432 million,” noted Nomura analysts Richard Huang and Stella Xing in a statement.
“June 2016 thus far has been much weaker than our original expectation, with gaming revenues tracking at a 7 – 11 percent year-­on-year decline,” the analysts added. Nomura had previously forecasted “flat year-on-­year” change.
The impact of the sporting tournament could be significant enough to bring the month’s GGR to a low not seen since September 2010, they warn, the last time it dipped below HKD16 billion.
“We continue to expect a slow-grind recovery in GGR, but the fact that June 2016 is heading to a five-year low […] highlights the potential risk of demand disappointment,” wrote Huang and Xing.