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This week, the Venetian Arena in Macau will host two NBA games between the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns, scheduled for Friday and Sunday. The organizer is Las Vegas Sands, and a key role in the league’s return was played by the company’s president and chief operating officer (COO) Patrick Dumont, who owns the Dallas Mavericks. The basketball league has not held games in China for six years, and the event itself became part of Macau’s broader push to expand its calendar of events and non-gaming offerings.
A tourist who has visited the Cotai Strip can easily mistake the surroundings for Nevada’s gambling capital: a replica of the Eiffel Tower, the Venetian hotel, familiar landmarks. However, Macau, a special administrative region of China, is increasingly building its own showcase of experiences. Water parks, theatrical shows, world-class restaurants, spas, and sporting events are turning the former “gambling capital of the world” into a multi-faceted resort destination designed for a wide range of audiences.
Forecasts for gaming revenue
Despite diversification, the gambling business figures continue to grow. Citigroup analysts last month raised their forecast for Macau’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2025 to $33.3 billion, which implies growth of about 10% year over year. By comparison, the entire state of Nevada recorded a record $15.6 billion in gaming revenue in 2024. According to experts, major events such as NBA games or the recent concert by the K-pop group Twice attract the highest-spending gamblers, who drive most of the growth in casino revenue.
Las Vegas Sands and the role of Patrick Dumont
The company has been operating in Macau for 21 years and has invested $17 billion in the region, creating one of the world’s largest entertainment infrastructures. “I think it’s wonderful for Macau because it really puts a spotlight on what a world-class entertainment destination Macau has become,” Dumont said in an interview with CNBC. According to him, the region’s entertainment capacity is enormous, and the basketball games only help raise its global profile.
Diversification as a requirement for concessionaires
The drive for transformation is not coming only from business. When in 2022 the six main casino concessionaires applied for the renewal of gaming licenses, the Macau government put forward a strict condition: total investments of nearly $15 billion over ten years, with about 90% of these funds to be directed to non-gaming infrastructure. Thus, shows, spas, and restaurants are appearing at resorts not only purely for commercial reasons, but also at the regulator’s explicit requirement.
A new audience and a refreshed offering
After borders reopened, the demographics of visitors changed noticeably. Operators are seeing an influx of young guests, high rollers with families and children, who expect a full resort experience. “These people are young and sophisticated, many come to Macau very often. We need to keep refreshing our offerings so that they are happy to come back,” noted MGM China president Kenneth Feng.
He also noted that the development of the iGaming industry is influencing tourists’ preferences as well. Thanks to modern technology, people have gained the ability to play from home on their phones. Modern online casino apps offer thousands of games, far more than even large land-based casinos. Some of these games have become major hits, as shown by global statistics from industry websites. Their experts note that the ability to download XXXtreme Lightning Roulette and play without leaving the couch poses challenges for land-based casinos. After all, people satisfy their appetite for gambling in the digital space. Consequently, fewer and fewer gamblers come to Macau, and more and more visitors are looking for other kinds of leisure. And it’s not just young people, but also older visitors.
Three resorts, three different focuses
Each major operator has found its niche in the non-gaming segment:
- Wynn Palace is betting on visual spectacle and dining, from a collection of Formula 1 cars to gondola rides above a fountain show. Wynn Resorts CEO Craig Billings emphasized that “entertainment clearly boosts visitation from both gaming and non-gaming guests.”
- MGM Macau invested $7 million in the Tria spa complex, where guests can enjoy a room with real snowfall and an immersive pool experience that plunges them into a virtual ocean with an approaching storm.
- Melco is developing a family-focused direction at Studio City with the world’s only figure-eight-shaped Ferris wheel and a water park, while at the neighboring City of Dreams the legendary “House of Dancing Water” show draws crowds.
Tourist flows are growing, Golden Week amplifies the effect
In the first half of 2025, 19.2 million people visited Macau, almost 20% more than in the same period a year earlier. During “Golden Week,” an eight-day holiday break through October 8, about 1.2 million visits were expected. The growth in visitation translates directly into more action at the gaming tables.
It is casinos that underpin the region’s public finances: in the first half of 2025, the government collected $5.6 billion in gaming taxes, adding 1% to the 2024 figures. Filming on gaming floors is prohibited by law, and Macau itself carefully avoids any promotion of gambling so as not to provoke the authorities of mainland China, which is firmly opposed to gambling advertising.
The next test of the strategy
According to JPMorgan estimates, in the first five days of Golden Week Macau casinos may have generated about $686 million in gaming revenue, which would make this holiday the best in five years. After the break, October usually tends to lose momentum, so the market will be watching closely gross gaming revenue (GGR) and whether a packed events lineup can keep visitors coming. One top executive at a major casino, who asked to remain anonymous, said there is “no chance whatsoever” that Macau will ever become a predominantly non-gaming city. All the splashy attractions, it seems, are just icing on the cake.
