Macau June casino revenue jumps 19% to $2.6 billion on entertainment-led surge

Macau casino revenue surged 19% year-on-year in June to MOP21.06 billion ($2.6 billion), driven by a spike in visitation and premium play tied to a series of concerts by Canto-pop icon Jacky Cheung.

The strong June performance brought total gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the first half of 2025 to MOP118.77 billion ($14.69 billion), up 4.4% from the same period last year. The result comes after May’s better-than-expected figures and offers renewed optimism for the year despite a sluggish start in January and February.

Analysts credited the unexpected boost to a sharp rise in entertainment-led tourism. “We conducted our June 2025 table survey on the first night Cheung performed, and we attribute all the positive findings from our survey to him,” wrote Citi analysts George Choi and Timothy Chau. Their data showed a 16% increase in premium players and a 36% rise in the average wager that evening.

JP Morgan analysts also cited strong entertainment events as the key catalyst for the seasonal surge, while Vitaly Umansky of Seaport Research Partners pointed to “strong entertainment events [and] high hold” for the upturn. Bloomberg likewise noted the role of “concert fervour” in boosting casino revenues.

With Cheung’s “60-Plus” concert series running into July at Galaxy Macau, Seaport forecasts GGR to rise 10.2% year-on-year for the month. The firm has also upgraded its second-half growth forecast to 6.8%, projecting full-year GGR growth of 5.6%.

“Growth should be driven by increased marketing efforts by operators and improving consumer trends in China,” Umansky wrote. “China's stimulus and policy measures are likely to help shore up China’s economy and improve consumer confidence later this year.”

Macau authorities earlier revised their 2025 GGR forecast downward from MOP240 billion to MOP228 billion. The current monthly average now stands at MOP19.79 billion ($2.45 billion), exceeding the MOP19 billion figure implied in the government’s revised outlook.

The upbeat numbers come as the city readies for structural changes in its gaming sector. Satellite casino operations are set to be phased out by the end of the year, a shift that could significantly impact the economy of the ZAPE district.