Satellite Casinos in Macau Fold Early as Marketing Staff Are Poached

Macau is witnessing a wave of early shutdowns among its satellite casinos, driven largely by the aggressive recruitment of their marketing and public relations teams by larger operators. According to Billy Song, President of the Macau Responsible Gaming Association, many satellite venues are now unable to retain customers because “other companies are poaching the mass gaming floor public relations staff.” Faced with a mass exodus of talent, several smaller properties have already suspended operations ahead of the official December 31, 2025, deadline.

The root of the crisis lies in scale and incentives. Larger casino operators are reportedly hiring entire marketing units—sometimes tens of staff at once—while a satellite casino might only have a dozen or so in its team. Once those teams depart, satellite venues find themselves stripped of their ability to promote and attract clientele, reinforcing the business logic behind early closure. f Some satellite operators, such as Landmark, have tried countermeasures—offering more generous commission schemes to incentivize retention—but in many cases, the damage has already been done. 

With staff losses mounting, some casinos have opted for partial closures. For example, Emperor Entertainment’s casino has shut down baccarat and VIP floors (levels 2 to 5), maintaining only ground-floor slot and live entertainment operations. SJM, a dominant player in Macau’s casino industry, has reportedly reallocated gaming capacity—expanding floor space in properties like Hotel Lisboa—to absorb tables displaced from closing satellites. This marks a consolidation trend where large operators not only pick up staff, but also reconfigure physical gaming infrastructure to consolidate customer flow.

Beyond the operational upheaval, the early closures reflect the structural overhaul that Macau’s casino sector has been undergoing. Since a 2022 amendment to the gaming law, the “table leasing” model underlying satellite casinos has been set to phase out, with the 2025 deadline marking the end of transition. The move to integrate or eliminate satellite properties offers efficiency gains for major license holders, but also brings significant challenges—redeployment of staff, property conversions (some former satellite sites are expected to be converted into hotel or hospitality use), and the task of retaining or recapturing customers who favored the more intimate or lower-stakes environment of satellites.