Macau Casino Operators to Pay $6M Each for License Extensions Through 2022

March 29, 2022 Macau Crime & Legal

The six Macau casino operators will each pay the enclave government MOP47 million — or roughly $5.83 million based on today’s exchange rate — to have their gaming concessions extended through December 31, 2022.

For more than two years, COVID-19 has greatly slowed the Macau government’s legislative rulemaking in finalizing its next gaming law. The Special Administrative Region (SAR) announced earlier this month that the six casino licenses would, as a result, be extended from their scheduled June 26 expirations through the year’s end. But that extension, of course, comes at a cost.

Macau officials floated a license extension fee ranging between MOP50 million to MOP80 million. But Sands China, the Chinese operating unit of Las Vegas Sands, reveals through its 2021 Annual Report that Macau opted to come in on the lower end of the estimated range.

The Macau government invited [Sands China] to submit a formal request for an extension along with a commitment to pay the Macau government up to MOP47 million (approximately US$6 million at exchange rates in effect on December 31, 2021),” the company report detailed.

Sands China added that it applied for its extension on March 14.