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Market · Philippines · Tue 1 Sept · 3 min read

Melco's City of Dreams evaluating Philippine online entry

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What happened

Seaport Research Partners, following management discussions at its 2026 Annual Summer Conference, reported that City of Dreams Manila leadership is actively evaluating entry into Philippine online gaming. The disclosure came from senior analyst Vitaly Umansky, summarizing direct conversations with Melco Resorts management. No product has been announced. No timeline has been stated publicly. This is an evaluation, not a commitment.

Why it matters

Sources: GGRAsia

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  2. Okada pivots to mass market after dragging UEC resultsOkada Manila underperforming badly enough to drag down Universal Entertainment Corp's Q2 2026 group results, and now pivoting explicitly to mass market and online gaming, is a competitive signal, not just an earnings story. City of Dreams Manila has already demonstrated two consecutive quarters of mass-market share gains while VIP-dependent operators contracted, so Okada's pivot follows a playbook that a competitor has already validated and is running ahead of them. For Philippine operators and investors, the question is execution speed: Okada is a large physical property reconfiguring its floor and channel mix under fiscal pressure, and late movers in mass-market repositioning have consistently underperformed peers who made the shift earlier.Market · Philippines
  3. Andrew Tan bets on online with NWR PlayAlliance Global, which just secured full control of Newport World Resorts, has now launched NWR Play to enter the Philippine online gaming market. The sequencing matters: a clean ownership structure followed immediately by a digital expansion signals that Tan's group had this move ready and was waiting for governance clarity before executing. NWR Play enters a market where Solaire and other land-based brands already have online products, so the competitive question is not whether they can launch but whether Newport's brand and player database from the physical property convert meaningfully online. Watch how they structure their PAGCOR online license and whether the product is built in-house or on a white-label platform, because that will determine how fast they can compete on product quality.Market