Your Daily Asia Gaming eBrief: Illegal online gambling

Good Morning. It’s well documented that the pandemic has provided extra juice to an already rapidly growing online gambling industry. However, the majority of sites operating in this field could not be truly considered as legal, as even if they have a license they are taking bets from countries where gambling is unregulated or flat out banned, according to a major new analysis from the Asian Racing Federation. The wide-ranging report also expresses concern junket operators are fuelling the growth in Asia and China’s crackdown on illegal cross-border gambling is pushing them further towards the online segment.

What you need to know

• Macau legislators appear to be holding out the possibility of a reduction in the city's hefty 39 percent gaming tax if the operators can prove that they have managed to bring in players from outside of Mainland China. 
• Macau's draft gaming law has been amended to help satellite casinos, which will now be able to operate for longer than the original three-year transition period, but without revenue sharing.
• China said it has identified and stopped more than 90,000 people suspected of leaving the country to gamble since 2021 and vowed to continue to step up its campaign.
• Bloomberry Resorts reported that its 1Q22 EBITDA doubled from the prior year and was up 54 percent sequentially as revenue gained on increased domestic confidence.

On the radar

• Star says speedy board renewal needs to be balanced with stability.
• Vietnam drops pre-departure covid-19 test requirement. 
• Universal Entertainment swings to net profit in 1Q22 as restrictions ease.

AGB Intelligence

DEEP DIVE

Majority of online gambling sites are illegal, with junkets fuelling growth: ARF 

Industry Updates

• EveryMatrix reports profit growth across all business segments in 1Q22.
• DFNN to invest in space technology and data centers.

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