Opinion | Macau casino operators need not fear Crown arrests

When Australia sneezes, does Macau catch a cold? The territory’s casino stocks have certainly taken fright at Chinese authorities’ detention of 18 employees of Australian gambling company Crown Resorts – shares in Sands China and Wynn Macau dropped.
It’s understandable that the news has alarmed the industry. The Australian Financial Review quoted China’s foreign ministry as saying that the employees were being held in connection with gambling crimes.
Marketing of gambling services – an essential element in attracting VIP clients, the high-rollers who make up a significant slice of Asian casino revenues – is illegal in mainland China.
As a result, much of the industry operates in a gray area, winning new customers by advertising their non-gaming attractions instead, or allowing junket operators to act as middlemen.
That’s actually a good reason for the Macau operators to take heart. Right now, there are two main threats to their VIP businesses — the shortage of regulated gaming tables being granted by the territory’s government, and competition from less regulated resorts operating offshore.
There’s not a lot Macau’s casinos can do about government regulators, but casinos catering to Chinese high-rollers in Australia, the Philippines, Korea, Saipan and elsewhere in the region may be more tractable.
Being distant from China, and newcomers in a market that’s already dominated by Macau’s big six casino operators, they face an uphill struggle to establish themselves. Hence the presence of marketing offices on the mainland, in spite of the risks.
A crackdown on such offices is essentially a crackdown on Macau’s competitors. That’s an old lesson of gambling – more often than not, your opponents’ losses are your gains. David Fickling, Bloomberg