Speaking today at the opening of G2E Asia, the region’s largest gaming event, Sands China President Grant Chum stated that Macau has entered a “new era” where entertainment, culture, and sports are now the primary drivers of growth.
Chum noted that while the pandemic was a significantly challenging period, Macau overcame it remarkably well and recovered beyond anyone’s expectations.
Macau, the global gaming capital and the only place in China where casinos are legal, suffered through years of travel restrictions due to the covid-zero policy. However, Chum highlighted a rapid transformation into an “event economy” that spans art, music, and sports.
Macau closed 2025 with total revenues of 247.4 billion patacas (approximately 26.15 billion euros), a 9.1% increase over the previous year. The city also hit a new historical record last year by receiving about 40.1 million visitors, a 14.7% rise compared to 2024.
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Despite the increase in visitor numbers, the revenue generated by local casinos remains below pre-pandemic levels. In recent years, Macau authorities have followed an economic diversification policy dictated by China’s central government, which seeks to make the local economy less dependent on the gaming industry through the development of sectors such as major events, culture, finance, and technology.
Despite these efforts, official data shows that gaming still represented nearly half of Macau’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2025.
There are six concessionaires operating in the territory—MGM, Galaxy, Venetian, Melco, Wynn, and SJM—which renewed their ten-year concession contracts in December 2023. At that time, the six operators committed to investing more than 100 billion patacas in non-gaming elements.
Chum emphasized that all six licensed operators have been proactively driving diversification to reshape the territory’s global reputation. According to the executive, the event economy is truly flourishing, supported by new infrastructure like the Galaxy Arena and the return of iconic shows such as Melco’s The House of Dancing Water.
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As an example of this new direction, Chum pointed to the return of the NBA to China last year after a six-year absence. Two pre-season games in October featured the Brooklyn Nets and the Phoenix Suns, filling the 14,000-seat Venetian Arena.
While NBA China Games were traditionally held in major mainland hubs like Shanghai or Beijing, the league chose Macau for its most recent series. This coming October, the Houston Rockets will face the Dallas Mavericks at the same venue, the latter being owned by Patrick Dumont, the COO of Sands China’s parent company, Las Vegas Sands.
