Macau Approved 29 Gaming Promoters for 2026

Macau authorities authorized the operation of 29 gaming promoters in casinos for 2026. The decision was made by the Secretary for Economy and Finance, approving the list of operators that will be able to work under the updated licensing regime.

The figure is noticeably below the official cap, which allows up to 50 licenses. At the same time, the trend compared with 2025 looks positive, since that year began with 24 promoters, and by 2026 there are more approvals.

Ten-year figures and the element of surprise

Macau’s promoter market has narrowed over the past decade to a scale that is difficult to compare with previous volumes. The trend looks like this: 2014, 235 promoters; 2024, 18 active; 2025, 24 at the beginning of the year; 2026, 29 approved. Against the peak of the mid-2010s, the current level remains only a part of the former ecosystem.

The news about the increase in the number of approved operators is perceived as unexpected due to the context of recent years. After China’s anti-corruption campaign and the crackdown on capital outflows, industry observers repeatedly described the sector as fading, and in the public sphere there were assessments about the likely disappearance of promoters as a category. Reality turned out to be more complex, because the sector did not disappear, but became much smaller and operates under different rules, closer to a service model with strict restrictions.

From VIP rooms to court sentences

Previously, promoters earned primarily from the VIP segment, bringing wealthy players to casinos and servicing them in separate areas with an increased level of privacy.

Their role went far beyond marketing and included infrastructure for an expensive and risky flow of clients. A typical set of functions included:

• arranging travel and accommodation, including logistics and bookings

• extending credit lines for gambling and facilitating settlements

• acting as an intermediary between the player and the casino

• debt collection, which effectively turned the promoter into a financial operator with its own risks

This structure began to collapse under pressure from Beijing, which intensified the fight against corruption, capital outflows, and schemes to circumvent foreign-exchange controls. The VIP channel ended up in an area of heightened attention, and practices that for years were considered customary became a source of legal risks. The decline was accelerated by two high-profile court cases, after which the toxicity of the old approaches became obvious to the market.

Alvin Chau, the founder of the largest promoter Suncity, was convicted in 2023 on more than 100 counts related to illegal gambling and organized crime. According to the case materials, the volume of undeclared wagers amounted to HK$823.7 billion, and tax revenue losses to the public treasury were estimated at HK$8.26 billion, after which Chau received 18 years of imprisonment.

In the same year, Tak Chun head Levo Chan was convicted on 34 counts, including organized crime, illegal gambling, and money laundering. The investigation pointed to hidden bets totaling HK$35 billion and estimated losses to the state at about HK$8.6 billion; the sentence was 14 years in prison.

After these proceedings, the sector shrank quickly, and the former practices became not only risky but also economically vulnerable due to strengthened compliance and transaction monitoring.

The 2023 law and the new commission economics

The promoters’ operating model was reformatted by the 2023 gaming law, which закрепил more stringent boundaries. The key restrictions are described as follows:

• a promoter can work with only one of the six concessionaires, that is, holders of gaming licenses, while the concessionaire is entitled to cooperate with several promoters

• instead of a share of revenue, a fixed commission of 1.25% of rolling chip turnover was introduced, that is, the turnover of chips in VIP settlements

• casinos are prohibited from extending credit to customers

• independent operation of VIP rooms is prohibited, which previously often became the center of informal betting

These rules change the economics of the business. Revenues become more predictable, but significantly limited, and the space for gray schemes with lending and autonomous VIP rooms narrows. At the same time, such a structure leaves the market a niche for legal service, where the promoter plays the role of an agency channel rather than an independent financial center.

Such changes are especially important against the backdrop of growing competition from the iGaming segment. Online casinos offer players a wide range of options - from playing with bonus funds to exclusive titles that exist only on online platforms. More and more players choose Wheel of Fortune, Plinko, and crash games such as Lucky Jet, Aviator, Jet X, Aviatrix. Players are especially attracted by mobile apps - this is confirmed by data from numerous surveys.

On a website with a review of the crash game Jet X, which can be find here, the authors present information about the reasons for the popularity of mobile apps with gambling. The main reason is a high level of accessibility. With such an advantage, it is indeed difficult for land-based casinos to compete. Therefore, Macau operators are in a constant search for development paths, including within the updated licensing regime.

VIP revenue, the J.P. Morgan forecast, and the search for new venues

The financial picture of the VIP segment under the new model looks more subdued than in the years of promoter dominance. In 2025, VIP baccarat generated about HK$66 billion, which is nearly 25% higher than a year earlier; however, the VIP share of total gaming revenue was 27.48% versus 46.24% in 2019.

The J.P. Morgan forecast for 2026 suggests a further shift toward the mass-market segment. Analysts expect that the mass-market segment and slots could rise by 7% and 8%, while the VIP direction could decline by about 5%, reflecting a change in the structure of demand and regulatory effects.

Some promoters, according to industry discussions, are looking for jurisdictions with less strict rules. At the G2E Asia conference, lawyer Luis Mesquita de Melo, general counsel of Hoiana Resort and Golf, described Vietnam as an alternative venue and said: “In Vietnam, junkets are called international tour operators or travel operators, but in essence these are the same junkets known primarily from Macau. There is no regulation, and junket operations are in a gray area, which raises a number of concerns.”

This contrast underscores a mixed picture for Macau in 2026. There are more approvals, 29 versus the starting 24 in 2025, but it is still far from the cap of 50, and even more so from the scale of the 2010s. Current activity is concentrated within the new model with a fixed commission and a limited set of functions, where the growth in the number of licenses does not mean a return to the old VIP conveyor belt.