Major Investor Hopes Macau Will Legalize Online Gambling
Major American investor Jason Ader, who has a significant stake in the well-known provider Playtech, which develops gaming software for online casinos, told the press that the Chinese government should change its approach to gambling. In particular, this concerns the legalization of online gambling in Macau.
As you know, gambling is permitted in the Celestial Empire in only one province, which in a very short time has become the gambling capital for a huge region, which contains quite a large number of countries. Today, we can categorically state that Macau is a worthy competitor to Las Vegas. However, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the gross revenue (GGR) of casinos in this province of China decreased by 80%. This is not surprising, since a strict quarantine was in effect in the region for 14 days. After the restrictions were lifted, the situation improved, but only slightly.
This difficult situation could lead to a series of bankruptcies for a large number of gambling industry operators and investors who have invested heavily in the development of gambling in Macau. According to Jason Ader, the Chinese authorities should urgently consider the issue that will allow legalizing online games. This will compensate for some of the losses, while there is no talk of increasing revenues.
The negative attitude of the Chinese authorities towards online gambling is well known, so under normal conditions the lack of opportunity to play online is quite acceptable. However, the current negative situation, the end of which is not yet in sight, requires new decisions. Moreover, local entrepreneurs who have invested money in the development of Macau, as well as foreign entrepreneurs, suffer very serious losses. One should not forget about the serious reduction in income in terms of receiving tax payments. And although the share of cash receipts in the form of tax deductions from the organization of gambling in the state budget is small, the losses will still be very significant.
