Macau daily gross gaming revenue (GGR) was circa 9 percent higher in the past week compared to the week from July 6, as “distractions from the global soccer tournament continued to fade,” says banking group Citi.
That was a reference to the FIFA World Cup 2026 football competition, which concluded on Sunday. The institution cited industry sources for its estimate.
“We are keeping our July 2026 GGR forecast of MOP21.0-billion [US$2.60-billion],” i.e., likely down 5 percent year-on-year, “unchanged”, wrote analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau.
That implied GGR averaging “circa MOP746 million per day for the rest of July”.
Citi stated in its flash note: “Macau GGR for the first 19 days of July is likely to have reached circa MOP12.05 billion.”
“The daily run-rate during the previous week of circa MOP679 million was circa 9 percent higher versus the week of July 6 (circa MOP621 million per day),” the analysts said.
“This newest weekly data point seems to suggest that distractions from the global soccer tournament continued to fade, with fewer… soccer matches during the previous week versus that in the week of July 6,” they added.
The bank also suggested – again based on industry sources – that VIP volume was either flat, or rose by up to 2 percent month-on-month, while mass GGR was in likelihood flat.
“VIP hold rate appears to be higher versus the week of July 6,” the analysts noted.
“Now that the global soccer tournament is in the rearview [mirror], we expect Macau to have a swift GGR recovery, propelled by its star-studded event calendar,” they added.
Following that tournament, several Macau casino operators have scheduled concerts and other entertainment events throughout the remainder of July and August, according to GGRAsia’s review of promotional materials.
A number of investment analysts has linked performances at Cotai gaming resort arenas by leading artists with a lift to GGR at those venues and sometimes at other properties.
