Genting Singapore vs Marina Bay Sands: Who leads the casino market in world’s second-richest country?

Genting Singapore and Marina Bay Sands (MBS) are two major casino operators in Singapore, the world's second-richest country. In the second quarter of 2025, Genting Singapore reported a 12% increase in EBITDA to SGD210.8 million (US$165 million). However, DBS research analyst Chee Zheng Feng believed that Genting Singapore's second-quarter result was stronger relative to expectations, as they had previously struggled in the first quarter due to internal issues and the World Cup diverting patrons' budget to sports betting.

Despite these challenges, Genting Singapore still lags behind MBS in terms of profits and market share. MBS continues to dominate the market with a clear lead in profitability, premium customer penetration, and customer share. Industry observers attribute MBS' lead to factors such as its prime city-center location, high-quality positioning, and dozens of mixed-quality hotels around the Marina Bay area.

MBS has also invested in property upgrades, converting rooms into suites and increasing average room rates to about $1,000 per night. This has allowed them to appeal to high-stakes "whale" players. In contrast, Genting Singapore has been slower in making upgrades, with renovations at Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) beginning more than two years after those at MBS. The new chief operating officer at RWS only took over in December 2024, and RWS will need more time to catch up.

However, Genting Singapore's latest results suggest that its market-share losses may be slowing. Chee expects MBS to retain between 60% and 65% of Singapore's gaming market, but sees little risk of RWS' share falling below 30% again. Lee, on the other hand, is less optimistic about the short-term future of Genting Singapore. He noted that the market's volatility makes a longer-term view more useful than quarterly figures, with the market share split having shifted from 51% to 48% in favor of MBS in 2011 to 81% to 19% in 2025.