Transition Plans
Melco Resorts plans to relocate all affected employees from the closing venues to its other Macau properties, ensuring uninterrupted employment. Gaming tables and electronic machines from these sites will also be redistributed across Melco’s remaining casinos to maintain operational capacity.
Beyond the property closures, Melco seeks to keep three Mocha Club locations—Inner Harbour, Hotel Sintra, and Golden Dragon—open after 2025. The company is pursuing formal approval from Macau authorities to continue operations in 2026. However, it stated that this remains “subject to compliance with all legal and regulatory requirements.”
Reforms Have Been in the Works
The mandate to phase out satellite casino operations in Macau kicked off in 2022, requiring all venues to relocate to concessionaire-owned properties by December 2025. The law requires partnerships to transition to service-based agreements, eliminating revenue-sharing models.
After the three-year transition window concludes this year, operators will function exclusively as casino managers compensated through performance-based or inflation-indexed fees. Melco’s exit from satellite operations signals a broader shift in the gaming sector towards centralized ownership and standardized fee structures.
Industry-Wide Restructuring
Like Melco Resorts, SJM Holdings plans to close seven of its 11 satellite casinos, including Casino Fortuna, Casino Casa Real, and Casino Kam Pek Paradise, by year-end. It also seeks to acquire Ponte 16 and L’Arc Macau housing properties for direct ownership. The group assured its commitment to safeguarding local employment, offering roles to all affected staff within core operations.
SJM’s satellite operations posted HKD2.85 billion (US$363.2 million) in Q1 2025 gross gaming revenue (GGR). This represents a 7.6% annual gain, with adjusted EBITDA rebounding to HKD79 million. Analysts predict the closure of underperforming satellite casinos may boost yields for concessionaires.
