The National Basketball Association (NBA) has signed a multimillion-dollar agreement to stage preseason games in Macau, taking the sport to the doorstep of its biggest potential market as it struggles at home to regain the mass viewership it enjoyed before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The NBA plans to host two preseason games per year over the next five years at The Venetian Arena operated by Sands China in Macau, the former Portuguese territory near Hong Kong and the Chinese city of Zhuhai. The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns will kick off the partnership with two games on October 10 and 12 next year, according to the NBA’s deputy commissioner Mark Tatum.
“It is an exciting day today, as [we] bring the NBA to Macau,” Tatum said. “It is incredible to see the transformation of Macau since [my] last visit. The most important fan base for the NBA is here in Macau, and we have a partner in Sands China that is investing in sports, so that is why we are bringing the games back.”
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The accord, almost two decades in the making since the Cleveland Cavaliers played the Orlando Magic in Macau in 2007, is a milestone for the NBA, as it marks the nearest approach to mainland China by the professional league since a 2019 row over a tweet that expressed support for Hong Kong’s anti-government protests. China is the world’s largest basketball market with a fan base estimated at between 300 million and 450 million.
“We are combining our resources with the NBA, and not just doing it for a year, but entering into a multi-year strategic collaboration where we have a series of landmark events at a certain time during the year for several years to come”, said Grant Chum, the CEO of Sands China, in an interview with the Post in Macau. “That brings not just the right content for our visitors, but also enhances the reputation and profile of Macau as an international tourism destination that combines the best of entertainment, hospitality and sports.”
Macau, which returned to China’s sovereignty in 1999, is pushing hard to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on casino gambling.
Basketball viewership has been in steady decline since 2019 in the United States. The 2019 NBA Finals saw an average viewership of 15.14 million, rising to 18.34 million when the Toronto Raptors played the Golden State Warriors in June that year, 8 million of which viewed the game in Canada.
The following year, viewership halved as the Covid-19 pandemic roiled public events and gatherings all over the world, sinking to as low as 5.94 million in late October 2020, when cases reached their fourth-highest daily total in the US.
Low attendance games during the pandemic should be seen as “an anomaly and a business decision to complete the season under extraordinary circumstances,” according to a league source who declined to be named. “It’s impossible to compare that to a normal year.”
Games viewership recovered since the end of the pandemic, but never could get back to what it was before 2019. In June, 12.22 million viewers tuned into the ABC to watch the Boston Celtics defeat the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals, 33 per cent fewer than the viewership five years earlier and in line with the double-digit decline in television viewership in the broadcast system.
Sands China is one of six integrated resorts in Macau, as the city’s casino concessionaires are now called in a nod to their contractual obligation to invest in leisure, entertainment and sports to diversify their businesses. With Las Vegas Sands as a 70-per cent majority owner, Sands China operates several hotels and casinos in Macau: The Venetian, Sands Macao, The Plaza Macao, The Londoner Macao and The Parisian Macao.
The Venetian Arena has a capacity for 14,000 seats. Formerly called the Cotai Area, it reopened last month after a 10-month renovation , featuring a state-of-the-art retractable seating system, 360-degree LED ribbon and corner screens, and a four-sided jumbotron-style scoreboard. True to its heritage with high rollers, the arena can cater up to 450 VIPs with 15 VIP Suites, seven bunker suites and 10 Sky Box Suites.
In securing the NBA deal, Sands beat Macau rival Galaxy Entertainment Group, which has offered its 16,000-seat Galaxy Arena to host the games. That arena sits within the Galaxy International Convention Centre, with 40,000 square metres (430,550 square feet) of space. The fact that Sands’ president and chief operating officer Patrick Dumont is also the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks, one of the 30 teams in the NBA, did not hurt the company’s pitch.
Sands China did not disclose the financial details of hosting the NBA games in Macau, estimated by a source familiar with the matter at US$25 million per year.
“It’s a lot, but it’s worth it,” said Patrick Dumont, the president and chief operating officer of Las Vegas Sands, during a media roundtable to announce the deal in Macau, declining to divulge the cost.
Macau’s six casino concessionaires have committed a combined US$12.8 billion over the next decade through the end of 2033 to invest in non-gambling activities, one of the conditions to qualify for their licenses. In doing so, they now refer to themselves as integrated resort (IRs) operators, instead of casinos.
To commemorate the deal, six NBA stars will play in a celebrity game at The Venetian Arena tomorrow , in a performance that also features Cantopop’s Sammi Cheng and the influencer Raymond Lam. The six NBA players are: Tracy McGrady, Ray Allen, Tony Parker, Stephon Marbury, DeMarcus Cousins and Cuttino Mobley.
The NBA is the most popular sports league in China, enjoying a strong following ever since the Washington Bullets – now renamed the Washington Wizards – became the first league team to play in the country in August 1979. Seven Chinese citizens have played in the NBA, the most famous being Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets.
Jacky Cui Yongxi is presently trying to establish himself in the US. The 21-year-old from Guangxi province is on a two-year, two-way contract with the Brooklyn Nets, which gives him game time in both the elite league and its feeder team in the G League. The Nets is owned by Joe Tsai, the chairman of Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the Post.
More from South China Morning Post:
- Swiss luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet makes timely entry in Macau
- ‘A question of time’: Macau’s full recovery nears as Sands China halts losing streak while Blackpink, Jacky Cheung draw visitors
- Sands China, Galaxy Entertainment lead Macau casino bidders promising US$12.5 billion in investment over 10 years
- Casino operators that play cards right will win from Beijing’s push to make Macau a family-friendly destination
- Will China host NBA games again, 5 years after row over Daryl Morey’s Hong Kong tweet?
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