MGM China Holdings Ltd has a first-mover competitive advantage due to fully-optimising its “smart’ gaming tables compared to the other five Macau concessionaires, and that edge that should last “at least till end-2024″, suggested Morgan Stanley Asia Ltd, in a Macau gaming sector update.
Analysts Praveen Choudhary and Gareth Leung stated, citing industry sources and referring to radio frequency identification (RFID) technology: “After installation of RFID/smart tables, it takes circa six months for the basic functions to be fully utilised/optimised. However, it may take longer depending on how the operators use this technology.”
Though they added: “We learnt that casinos get their money back within 12 months on the hardware investment.”
Factors for that included that “RFID/smart tables could improve speed of the game, and thus win rate,” said Morgan Stanley.
“Mass table win rate of MGM China improved 500 basis points” in the fourth quarter 2023 compared to 2018, said the institution. That was the same year MGM Cotai opened, complementing to the casino firm’s market presence via MGM Macau.
“Smart tables may have helped too, on top of natural ramp of its Cotai property,” said Morgan Stanley.
Several Macau operators have recently flagged plans to use RFID gaming tables. Macau government officials also recently had a meeting with the operators to discuss smart gaming table technology, along with other security-related topics.
On March 14, Bill Hornbuckle, chief executive and president of MGM Resorts International, majority owner of Macau casino concessionaire MGM China Holdings Ltd, had told an investment forum that RFID – used by the group’s Macau business for some years – was a good way of tracking play by foreign customers, as well as in general for monitoring the monetary integrity of games.
MGM China currently promotes the accuracy of its gaming point calculation for players, via advertising slogans on its mass-floor RFID tables, GGRAsia has observed from on-site checks.
The Morgan Stanley analysts acknowledged for their part, that RFID tables can be used to “accurately identify foreign gamblers,” who potentially could attract for their casino venue, a 5 percent rebate on GGR tax.
The institution said it believed MGM China, and Wynn Macau Ltd, a market rival, had gained mass market share in the first quarter of 2024, and that both companies could see positive revisions in earnings estimates for the current financial year.
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