{"id":777043851,"date":"2026-06-22T07:53:36","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T10:53:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777043851"},"modified":"2026-06-22T08:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T11:02:08","slug":"macau-premium-mass-bets-fall-to-post-pandemic-low-due-to-fifa-world-cup-citi-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/macau-premium-mass-bets-fall-to-post-pandemic-low-due-to-fifa-world-cup-citi-says","title":{"rendered":"FIFA World Cup sends Macau premium mass bets to post-pandemic low, Citi says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Citigroup\u2019s latest survey found premium mass wagering in Macau to be down 38 per cent year-on-year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Macau.- With FIFA World Cup<\/strong> 2026 <\/strong>underway, Citigroup<\/strong> analysts estimate that Macau\u2019s premium mass gaming segment is seeing its weakest performance since the city\u2019s post-pandemic reopening. Citi’s latest survey recorded premium mass wagers of approximately HK$9.8m (US$1.3m), down 38 per cent <\/strong>year-on-year. The decline was driven by both lower player volume and softer betting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citigroup analysts George Choi <\/strong>and Timothy Chau<\/strong> said the World Cup appears to be redirecting part of players\u2019 gambling budgets from Macau casinos to sports betting. This year’s tournament is expected to have a greater impact on gaming expenditure<\/a> than previous editions due to the expanded format, which features 48 teams and 104 matches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The June survey recorded 448 premium mass players, down 29 per cent from June 2025, and 24 whales compared with 35 in June 2025. The average wager per player declined by 13 per cent year-on-year to HK$21,775 (US$2,778).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this month, Citi estimated that the city\u2019s average daily gross gaming revenue run rate had fallen by around 20 per cent from May levels following the start of the World Cup on June 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Expanded FIFA World Cup could weigh on Macau GGR more than previous editions, Citi says\u00a0<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Citigroup\u2019s latest survey found premium mass wagering in Macau to be down 38 per cent year-on-year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":226,"featured_media":777043855,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Citigroup's latest survey indicates Macau's premium mass gaming segment experienced a 38% year-on-year decline in wagers, marking its weakest post-pandemic performance. This downturn, driven by reduced player volume and softer betting, is primarily attributed to the FIFA World Cup 2026 redirecting gambling budgets towards sports betting, with the tournament's expanded format exacerbating the impact on GGR.","focusai_entities":"Citigroup, George Choi, Timothy Chau, FIFA","focusai_location":"Macau","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (1.0), regulator (0.7), operator_casino (1.0), marketing_crm (0.8), investor_analyst (1.0), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"World Cup GGR Impact","query":"What specific mitigation strategies are Macau's integrated resort operators implementing to counter the GGR diversion to sports betting during major global events like the FIFA World Cup?"},{"label":"Premium Mass Outlook","query":"How might the observed decline in Macau's premium mass segment influence long-term investment theses for gaming operators, considering potential structural shifts in player preferences or market competition?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,16338],"tags":[29,24868,25284,257],"class_list":["post-777043851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casino-news","category-east-asia-news","tag-casino","tag-citigroup","tag-fifa-world-cup-2026","tag-macau"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777043851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777043851"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777043851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777043858,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777043851\/revisions\/777043858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777043855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777043851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777043851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777043851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}