Macau is about to set a record for the most annual visitors.
The city’s public security police said the visit hit 39.411 million visitors on Saturday, surpassing the record of 39.40 million hits in 2019.
Christmas is not a public holiday in Macau’s biggest tourist food market, China, but it is an official holiday in Hong Kong, the city’s second largest source of visitors. December 26 is also a public holiday in Hong Kong.
Visitor arrivals from January to November 2025 had already surpassed last year’s total of 34.9 million, according to tourism data.
Three Las Vegas-based companies operate casinos in Macau.
Visitors from mainland China accounted for 72.4 percent of total arrivals, while those from Hong Kong accounted for 18.3 percent. Visitors holding travel documents from outside Greater China made up 6.8 percent of the total number.
By comparison, Las Vegas is not expected to be anywhere near the record in 2025. In the first 10 months of the year, visits are down 7.6 percent to 32.3 million.
Las Vegas’ best year was 2016 when 42.9 million arrived in the city.
City gaming tax
Chicago plans Thursday to impose a 10.25 percent tax on sports bets generated on apps within city limits.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson last week agreed not to veto a $16.6 billion budget that includes the first-of-its-kind municipal tax on sports betting.
The city expects to generate $26 million annually from the tax.
Ten online sportsbooks in Illinois must also pay taxes at the state and county level.
Sports Betting Legislation
A Hawaii senator says he plans to introduce legislation in 2026 to limit sports betting.
Late. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, told a sports podcaster that he is responding to recent gambling scandals in the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball in which players manipulated game performance to profit from sports betting.
Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was arrested in October on fraud and money laundering charges. The FBI and federal prosecutors said that in 2023, when Rozier was playing for the Charlotte Hornets, he conspired with a friend to bet on his individual performance on prop games and that the two men split the winnings.
Toronto Raptors center Jontay Porter also pleaded guilty in 2024 to fraud after manipulating his performance to help a group of players win their bets.
Cleveland Guardians relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase and starting pitcher Luis Ortiz were arrested and charged in November with providing inside information about the location and speed of their first pitch in games to help two players in the Dominican Republic.
Schatz is working with professional leagues, players’ associations and sports betting operators to refine his legislative proposal that he says would target markets that could be manipulated by a “single bad actor.”
Massachusetts iGaming
State lawmakers in Massachusetts have delayed a proposal to legalize online casinos.
The Massachusetts Legislature voted last week to delay a bill authored by Representative David Muradian until March 16.
State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg said online casinos can overshadow the state’s lottery marketing efforts. Goldberg oversees the lottery.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey and Senator John Keenan have also expressed concern about problem gambling and called for stronger consumer protections and regulatory oversight.
Critics fear the delay could drive some players to illegal offshore gambling sites.
Massachusetts would become the eighth state to legalize iGaming if Muradian’s bill becomes law.
Internet gambling is legal in New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
–
