Macau Slots and TV Accused of Being Socially Irresponsible

NMA says Macau Slots is “taking advantage” of its monopoly to tempt bettors.

Sport betting monopoly Macau Slot has incurred the wrath of the local community for advertising its services on public television, during live sports matches. A local organization held a press conference to accuse both the betting monopoly and Cable TV of lacking “social responsibilities”, claiming that they were encouraging viewers to bet on sports in Macau.

Scott Chiang, vice president of the New Macau Association (NMA), described the ad campaign as “quite aggressive”, claiming it was “an active invitation” to betting. President Jason Chao added that the two monopolies were taking advantage of their status, in order to “feed every household gambling information.”

Football betting down by 10%

A division of Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau, Macau Slot is the only licensed sports betting operator, with its contract running until June 2015. The company’s total revenue remained unchanged since 2012, with profits reaching $52.4 million. Betting on football has become less popular in 2013 and dropped by 10%, while basketball handle went up 7%.

Under Macanese gambling laws, the operator’s betting offer is limited to Correct Score, Asian Handicap, Over/Under, All Up Win, Odd/Even, Win-Draw-Win, Total Number of Goals, First Goal Scorer and Outright. The NMA made no mention of the types of betting advertised on local television.