Last lap for Macau horse racing as authorities, local Jockey Club agree to terminate contract amid financial woes
- Casino hub’s secretary for administration and justice says Macau Horse Racing Company, which runs Jockey Club, has agreed to end concession contract in April
- Operator faces financial difficulties in wake of pandemic, with number of races dropping significantly
Macau will stop horse racing in April after the government and the local Jockey Club agreed to terminate their contract due to the latter’s financial difficulties and struggle to meet social development needs, bringing an end to the sport in the city after more than four decades.
Macau Secretary for Administration and Justice Cheong Weng-chon on Monday said the government had no plans to hold another public tendering exercise after agreeing to terminate its concession contract with the Macau Horse Racing Company, which runs the club. The contract will end on April 1.
“Horse racing activities have been on the decline in many places and some neighbouring countries have also announced plans to terminate their horse racing businesses,” he said.
“The government, after careful consideration, found that the operation of horse racing activities failed to generate the economic and social benefits they should bring and decided against holding a new public tendering exercise after terminating its contract with the Macau Horse Racing Company.”
The contract was extended in 2018 for another 24½ years and would have expired on August 31, 2042.
The minister said the company proposed terminating the contract last year and had cited operational difficulties and the inability of horse racing activities to meet current social development needs.
“Despite having a history of more than 40 years, horse racing in Macau has experienced a decline in popularity among locals and tourists in recent years,” Cheong said. “The Macau government, after a thorough study, has decided to accept the company’s application.”
He added that the company was not required to compensate the government due to the contract’s terms for termination.
The racecourse and its facilities would be handed over to the government on April 1 and the site would no longer be used for gambling purposes, Cheong said.
The minister said the Macau Horse Race Company had pledged to handle labour rights and employee benefits issues in accordance with the law, and also arrange to transport its 289 horses to other locations by March 31 next year.
According to Macau authorities, the racing and betting operator currently has 570 employees.
The Macau Jockey Club was heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, and saw the number of races, turnovers and horse numbers drop significantly since then.
There were only 10 races held at Taipa last week, most with single-figure fields, according to the club’s website.
Calling it a “difficult decision” to shut, Connie Kong Ieong, company secretary and director of the Macau Horse Race Company, said the business had been losing money since its inception, with an accumulated deficit exceeding 2.5 billion patacas (US$310 million).
She said the club would continue to run its exclusive facilities for its members, and would assist and arrange job referrals for its affected employees.
While Macau’s overall gross gaming revenue stood at 183 billion patacas in 2023, Cheong said the betting revenue on local horse racing events was only 140 million patacas last year.
In comparison, the Hong Kong Jockey Club announced an all-time high turnover of HK$304.8 billion (US$38.9 billion) for the 2022-23 financial year, a rise of 5.1 per cent year on year despite the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Hong Kong club, the sole operator authorised by the government to provide horse racing and football betting services, said it was “saddened” to learn of the news.
“Horse racing in Asia and across the globe is facing significant challenges including a global economic downturn, serious threat from illegal bookmakers and severe competition from other social entertainment activities,” it said.
The club added it was “better positioned than most other racing organisations to face these challenges”.
Racing in Singapore is also set to end in October before the government repurposes the land on which Kranji Racecourse sits.
Stanley Ho Hung-sun, the patriarch of Asia’s largest casino empire for half a century, was a giant of the Macau racing scene, leading a consortium to buy the Macau Jockey Club in 1991. He died in 2020 at 98. The club is currently led by his fourth wife Angela Leong On-kei.
Economist Simon Lee Siu-po, an honorary fellow at the Asia-Pacific Institute of Business at Chinese University, said the Macau Jockey Club had not been performing well.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club had diversified into football betting, which was aimed at younger audiences and made up a larger portion of its annual revenue last year according to its annual report, whereas Lee said horse race betting was “old-fashioned.”
“There are not enough people in Macau to support horse race betting,” he said. “The land is also not properly used and Macau is facing a downturn in gaming. Its government needs to secure other sources of income.”
