Crown Sydney closes gaming floor, axes 95 jobs as high rollers stay away

Crown Resorts will close one of the two VIP gaming floors in its new Sydney casino and axe up to 95 jobs as visitor numbers came in lower than expected.

The move to consolidate the two casino floors into one comes just one year after Crown opened them at its new flagship Sydney casino. The company told staff on Thursday that it will commence a voluntary redundancy program, with affected workers expected to be from the casino and casino support divisions.

Contacted by this masthead, a spokesperson for the Blackstone-owned casino operator confirmed that the company will close its “mahogany” floor until business levels stabilise, with all customers using its “crystal” level from now on.

“Crown has made a decision to consolidate its two VIP casino floors in Sydney in response to the current macroeconomic challenges facing our industry alongside other Australian businesses,” the spokesperson said.

“Unfortunately, this decision will impact some of our team members, and we are working with them and their union to consult on their options in the hopes of placing as many people as possible in other roles. Our priority is to support our people through this process, and manage these changes with care and respect.”

Some of the workers affected will be offered the option to be redeployed to Crown’s casinos in Perth and Melbourne, or fill other open positions in Sydney, the company said.

Crown Sydney was designed to suit international high-rollers, with its mahogany floor boasting 30 private salons. Its customers will now be restricted to the crystal floor’s 160 tables and 66 electronic tables instead. As a VIP-only facility, Crown Sydney has no poker machines. A minimum bet of $20 applies.

To gain access to the mahogany room, VIP members needed a minimum spend of $45,000 across its bars, restaurants and hotels.

One senior fund manager and former Crown investor, who was not authorised by his employer to speak publicly, said the company never really intended to have two floors when the casino was designed, but built both for overcapacity. They expect Crown to reopen the mahogany floor in peak periods such as Chinese New Year or Golden Week.

“They can always reopen it when the North Asian tourists begin returning to Australia, which looks to be soon judging by the international arrivals,” the fund manager said.

Crown Sydney was the brain child of former chairman and majority shareholder James Packer, who invested heavily in pitching the Barangaroo tower to Chinese high-rollers, who make up about 75 per cent of the global VIP gaming market.

Crown Sydney’s strategy has since shifted, with new CEO Ciaran Carruthers placing emphasis on its integrated hospitality offerings comprised of its luxury hotel and many restaurants.

The pivot followed a 2019 investigation by this masthead and 60 Minutes, which revealed Crown had been infiltrated by international criminal syndicates and money launderers. Since then, government inquiries in the three states where its casinos operate have ruled it unfit to hold a casino license, and the findings stopped it from opening the high-roller casino at its newest $2.2 billion tower at Sydney’s Barangaroo as planned in late 2020.

Crown was forced to overhaul its board, management and procedures to satisfy the regulators, who approved a conditional licence for Crown to operate its Barangaroo casino last year. The conditional licence is valid until December 31.

Crown is now preparing to pay one of the biggest financial penalties in Australian corporate history, with the Federal Court imposing a $450 million fine for the group’s anti-money laundering and counterterrorism failings at its casinos in Melbourne and Perth.

Last month, Crown unveiled a new approach to gambling harm minimisation, with the establishment of a dedicated gambling policy team. It now allows punters to self-exclude themselves from any of its casinos via its website, rather than having to front up to the locations in person.