Media outlets close to the Macau gaming community are reporting that four of the seven so-called ‘satellite’ casinos that will reportedly cease operating by the middle of 2022 are linked to the Golden Dragon Group, owned by local businessman and former legislator Chan Meng Kam.
Chan’s Golden Dragon Group operates Casino Golden Dragon, Royal Dragon and Casino Million Dragon, all operating under the license of SJM Holdings, and the Grand Dragon Casino in Taipa that operates under a Melco Resorts license. These four satellite casinos operate around 200 gaming tables, 21% of the tables in the territory’s satellite casinos.
Currently, there are 18 operational satellite casinos among a total of Macau’s 40 casinos, 18 operate as ‘satellites’, operating as third-party promoted locations under licences of SJM Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment or Melco Resorts and Entertainment. Macau Daily News has reported that seven of these satellite casinos plan to stop operations by mid-year.
The draft Bill of Amendments to the Macau gaming law proposes that any casino operating in the city must be established in the assets ‘owned’ by gaming concessionaires. This would present the satellite casinos with an uncertain future and local industry insiders believe that closures are inevitable as the Chinese Ministry of Public Security tightens its grip on the industry in Macau.
