Macau becomes more than a gambling destination. Casinos still win

MACAU — If you blindfold an American tourist and drop him off on the Cotai Strip in Macau, he might take one look at the Venetian hotel and the replica Eiffel Tower and assume he’s in Las Vegas.

Like Las Vegas, Macau – a special administrative region of China – is transforming with new entertainment, water parks, spas, gourmet restaurants and sports.

This week Sands of Las Vegas hosts two NBA games in Macau, a return for the basketball league after a six-year absence in China. The company’s president and chief operating officer, Patrick Dumont, owns the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks and played a central role in organizing the league’s return.

“I think it’s great for Macau, because it really shows what a great entertainment city Macau is,” Dumont told CNBC in an interview. He highlighted the tens of billions of dollars invested to create a world-class hotel destination.

“We’ve been operating here for 21 years and we’ve invested $17 billion, so the entertainment capacity here is really huge,” Dumont said. “For us, the NBA just highlights that.”

The NBA matches – between the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns, Friday and Sunday – will be played at the Venetian Arena in Macau. Fans filled the same arena last month for an immersive K-pop concert by the group Twice.

Large-scale events attract the biggest spenders to the gaming tables, according to analysts at Citigroup, who last month raised their forecast for Macau’s gross gaming revenue for 2025 to $33.3 billion. These projections represent growth of 10% year-on-year, representing an acceleration in gaming revenue gains.

For comparison, the state of Nevada saw a record $15.6 billion in gaming revenue in 2024, according to the American Gaming Association, citing the Nevada Gaming Control Board.

But the Macau government intends to diversify its economy and move beyond its reputation as the gaming capital of the world.

When the six main concessionaires, the companies that operate licensed casinos in Macau, requested renewal of these concessions in 2022, the government extracted from them a commitment to invest nearly $15 billion over 10 years, about 90% of which is dedicated to non-gaming equipment.

Hotels in Wynn CEO Craig Billings said in an email to CNBC that the company’s concession-related investments are “focused on entertainment and, as we’ve seen in many markets, including Macau, entertainment is a clear driver of attendance. And that visitation comes from both gaming and non-gaming customers.”

At Wynn Palace in Cotai, guests can take selfies in front of an incredible collection of F1 racing cars, ride a gondola over a fountain show at the Bellagio, or dine at SW Steakhouse while taking in a different theater show every 30 minutes. Wynn’s investment in food court-style restaurants belies the renowned cuisine represented throughout China and the world.

Gaming officials at several companies say visitor demographics have changed since borders reopened after the pandemic. Young players, big players and their spouses or children benefit from increasingly inventive and diversified entertainment.

MGM Macau’s Tria Spa, the result of a $7 million investment, surprises guests with a room dedicated to real snowfall. And its immersive experience pool places the guest in the middle of a virtual ocean as a violent storm approaches, with huge rain shower heads above cascading water.

MGM China President Kenneth Feng proudly presented premier suites designed to reward the best and most valuable players. He told CNBC his entire team is committed to delivering modern, inspiring design and exceptional service to an evolving Chinese visitor.

“These people are young and sophisticated, and many of them come to Macau very often,” Feng said. “We need to refresh our offering so that they are excited to come to Macau and happy to visit our properties.”

This week, families with children (along with grandparents and “helpers,” as nannies are often called here) ran through Melco’s Studio City, climbed atop Toy Story characters, rushed to the indoor/outdoor water park, and boarded the world’s only figure-8 Ferris wheel.

At Melco’s sister resort, City of Dreams, guests young and old filled the theater for a destination show, “House of Dancing Water.”

In each resort, restaurants, shops, pools and clubs connect with corridors outside the casino floors, carefully enclosed behind screens to hide the gaming tables and slot machines.

Visits increased by almost 20% in the first half of 2025 to 19.2 million people, according to official government statistics. Golden Week alone, an eight-day holiday period ending October 8, is expected to attract around 1.2 million visitors.

And despite advances in general entertainment, more visitors to Macau always means more gambling.

A JPMorgan analyst note released earlier this week said this year’s Golden Week would likely be Macau’s best in five years, with casinos expected to generate $686 million in gaming revenue in just the first five days of the holiday.

CNBC was not allowed to photograph or record the casino floor, as this is prohibited by Macau law. The special administrative region takes great care to avoid provoking the Chinese government, which is categorically opposed to any promotion of gambling on the mainland.

But it is games of chance that fuel profits and tax revenues. The Macau government collected $5.6 billion in gaming taxes in the first half of 2025, a growth of about 1% from 2024. Data from the first half of 2025 shows that non-gaming per capita spending fell by almost 13%.

Las Vegas has also invested billions of dollars in entertainment, fine dining, spas, shopping and sports. According to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, about two-thirds of revenue now comes from non-gaming sources.

Of course, it’s about revenue; no profits. All those fancy arenas, spas, swimming pools and theaters come with significant construction and maintenance costs. And you need a lot of very expensive concert tickets to make the investment profitable.

Alan Woinski, publisher of the Gaming Industry Daily Report, blamed the Las Vegas crisis on falling tourism demand.

“It is quite easy to understand that it is in leisure activities that the LV Strip is seeing its business collapse. Can we recover the billions wasted on non-gaming equipment to attract leisure customers who do not play games?” Woinski wrote Wednesday.

Woinski says Macau is a different story: here, special events are the lifeblood of gambling.

“This month will be a good test because usually after a Golden Week, the rest of the month is weak,” Woinski told CNBC.

He said the key metrics to watch are gross gaming revenue and whether the busy schedule of special events for the rest of October is helping drive gaming revenue finally returning to pre-pandemic levels.

A senior casino executive, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, said there was “zero chance” that Macau would ever have the majority of non-gaming revenue. So the amenities might just be the icing on Baccarat’s cake.

— CNBC’s Jessica Golden contributed to this report.