Sat, Jul 6, 2:31am by Kevin Pitstock
After seeing proposals from Australia’s two biggest casino companies, the New South Wales government gave Crown Limited permission to build a luxury casino in Sydney. NSW officials believe the introduction of competition in the Sydney area will provide a larger revenue base than the monopoly which has existed until now.
Jul 20, 2015 After allowing its existing Queensland interests to fall by the wayside, Echo undertook a $345 million revamp of Jupiters Hotel and Casino on the Gold Coast and began renovations on. With a 20-year career as a casino and sports betting analyst around the globe under his belt, he is now happy to stay in one place and study outcomes from his living room, rather than a plane. James Packer’s Vegas Casino Plans Leaked. Mark Anderson. Nick Kyrgios has moved into 31.00 to win Wimbledon after his first-round Grand Slam win.
The Crown Sydney is expected to be a $1.3 billion resort and development area in the Barangaroo area of Sydney Harbour. James Packer‘s gaming company has been in competition for the past several months with Echo Entertainment for the right to further develop the land-based casino industry of Sydney.
Echo Entertainment, which is the majority owner of the Star Sydney Casino, argued for an expansion of the existing venue. At the crux of the arguments was whether a gaming monopoly was preferable to open competition.
Competing Casinos in Sydney
New South Wales spoke about that issue while making their announcement. Barry O’Farrell, the New South Wales Premier, said, “What was clear was the need to inject competition.”
NSW officials hope their decision, which strips the gaming monopoly from Echo, should provide greater revenues than what Star Sydney could do alone. Echo argued the introduction of competition would cannibalise each other’s customer base, by forcing both sides to offer comps and junkets to incoming visitors, thus lowering the casino’s rake. In turn, this would hurt the revenue stream for New South Wales. Echo even cited a PricewaterhouseCoopers report which predicted such an eventuality.
The officials making the decisions didn’t agree with that assessment. Australia only receives about 1% of the gaming revenue from wealthy Asian high rollers. A VIP casino in Sydney may lure a larger percentage of those gamblers to New South Wales, so a whole new customer base could be accessed.
The Echo proposal offered $250 million in revenue up front, while Crown Ltd is expected to pay a $100 million fee to begin construction. The difference in the initial payoff is expected to be offset by the new influx of Asian gamblers. The government expects tax revenues from the Crown Sydney to be massive, which offsets the difference in initial revenue for NSW.
James Packer’s Empire Grows
James Packer, chairman of Crown Limited, had been publicly confident of winning approval. After buying a 10% share in Echo in order to hedge bets early on, he sold that stake in the rival company over a month ago. Industry observers interpreted the sale as confidence Crown would win in the end. This proved to be correct.
Echo Entertainment Wins $2 Bid To Build Brisbane Casino 2017
The new casino complex is expected to be impressive by any standards. A rare six-star hotel will be built to attract high dollar gamblers from the Asian mainland, mainly China. Conceptual drawings of the Crown Sydney show a curved skyscraper, which looks like an airplane fin jutting out of the landscape.
Echo Entertainment Takes a Blow
The announcement spells trouble for Echo Entertainment, which sees the 2nd most lucrative casino in Australia suddenly facing competition from a newer, bigger, and fancier resort. New South Wales announced that only one proposal would be accepted, so Echo’s plans for a $1.1 billion renovation of its casino and the surrounding area are ended.
The Star Sydney is the crown jewel in the Echo gaming empire, so this could prove to be a hard blow from which to recover. Crown Ltd now hopes to win approval from the Queensland government to build a Crown Brisbane, in order to launch a competition with the Echo’s Treasury Casino in that city. If so, the competition between the two gaming giants might become ever more one-sided.
More News
- UK bans credit card gambling from April
The UK Gambling Commission is banning people from using credit cards to place bets in an attempt to curb problem gambling. The…
- Japanese lawmaker indicted on fresh charges
A Japanese lawmaker who played an instrumental role in the legalisation and promotion of casino gambling has been indicted on bribery charges.…
- Delta Corp makes mark in Nepal
India’s largest casino operator has been granted a gaming licence in Nepal. Inkedin reports that Delta Corp has finally secured the gaming…