A management official at one of the most prominent satellite casino resorts in Macau – Ponte 16 – has shared his hopes to see the property continue offering gambling services beyond December 31st, 2022.
As reported by GGRAsia, the executive director and deputy chairman of Success Universe Group, Hoffman Ma Ho Man, whose company invests in Ponte 16 and promotes the satellite casino resorts’ services. The property currently relies on the gaming rights held by the local gambling operator SJM Holdings Ltd.
The issue of whether the satellite sector of Macau will continue trading in the future has been put under question by some recently proposed changes to the special administrative region’s (SAR) gambling regulatory framework. As CasinoGamesPro previously reported, a couple of bills have been recently sent to Macau’s Legislative Assembly – a piece of legislation seeking to bring certain amendments to the SAR’s gambling law and a piece of legislation linked to local junket operators and elements of satellite operations.
The first bill mentions that entities known simply as management companies would only be permitted to earn a fixed management fee if they run a particular satellite casino rather than get a share of the casino revenue generated by the property.
Satellite Casinos in Macau Can Apply for Temporary License Extention to December 31st, 2022
In an interview for GGRAsia in May 2022, Mr. Ma shared that the Macau Government should take into consideration the implementation of a more flexible and reasonable earnings model for the satellite casino venues in the special administrative region. The executive confirmed his proposal in comments to the media at the annual general meeting of Success Universe that took place in Hong Kong on June 10th.
At the time, his words linked to the operations at Ponte 16h were also quoted. As GGRAsia reported, Mr. Ma said that in his opinion, even in the future the satellite casinos and their license holder partners were not allowed to share any of the generated gambling revenue, there could be a secure stream of income for satellites, as they could impose some management and venue lease fees to the concessionaires. He, however, believes, that the Macau Government should allow some kind of performance-linked payment element within the management fee model of the satellite casinos in the SAR.
Shortly after his position was unveiled, the local Government hinted that it might allow some kind of performance-related system based on the property’s turnover under the proposed gambling law amendment. The earnings model could be established in a way favoring the management companies that seek to run a Macau satellite casino and the company that holds the operating gambling license.
For the time being, the gambling operating license of SJM Holdings – the Ponte 16’s partner in Macau – is set to expire on June 26th, along with the rest of the six operating permits. The special administrative region’s Government has already invited all of the concessionaires to apply for a temporary extension of their current licenses to December 31st, as the city prepares for a new public tender for an expansion of the operating permits for another 10-year period starting in 2023.
