Macau versus the Las Vegas Strip: which will be the bigger winner?

Written on June 23, 2006 by a2zMacau

June 24, 2006 | FinanceAsia | Can Macau out-Vegas Las Vegas, asks Standard & Poor's.

Macau, a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China, is currently one of the world's fastest growing gaming markets. It is estimated that during the next few years Macau will not only replace the Las Vegas Strip as the largest gaming market in the world in terms of revenue, but will also propel China into the second-largest global gaming jurisdiction, after the US.

Once controlled by Stanley Ho's Sociedad de Jogos de Macau, this market is expanding due to favorable demographics and the entry of international gaming companies such as Wynn Resorts Ltd (B+/Watch Pos/–), MGM MIRAGE (BB/Stable/–), Las Vegas Sands Corp. (BB-/Watch Neg/B-2), Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd. (A-/Stable/A-2), and Galaxy Casino S.A. (B+/Stable/–), each of which are, or are planning on, constructing Las Vegas-style casinos costing billions of dollars.