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Sports events can play a much bigger role in Macau’s tourism and resort business if they are presented and marketed well, according to Galaxy Entertainment Group Ltd executive vice president for entertainment services Jeffrey Jiang. In an interview, Jiang said such events can help broaden Macau’s appeal as a destination while also raising the profile of the resorts that host them.
Sports Events Generate Momentum
Mixed Martial Arts have also been utilised by Galaxy Entertainment to support such an approach by hosting the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in Macau in November 2024 for the first time in a decade. It has further been announced that Galaxy Entertainment will organise three UFC Fight Night events between 2024 and 2029 in Galaxy Arena, with the first event being organized on May 30, 2024. Jiang said the UFC partnership is Galaxy Macau’s first sporting intellectual property event since the COVID-19 pandemic.
He noted that the deal goes beyond a single event and gives Galaxy Arena a series of shows spread over several years. That longer arrangement, he said, gives the company more time and more flexibility to work with partners on tactical events that can support the main attraction while also reinforcing Macau’s image as Asia’s sports and entertainment hub.
Event Strategy And Visitor Appeal
According to Jiang, Galaxy Entertainment had an increase in sporting events being conducted in their premises after travel bans were lifted in 2023. According to him, Macau has begun to achieve a level where sports programming identities will be shaped by the integrated resort through its venue, partners, and audience base.
For Galaxy Entertainment, sports events need to fit closely with its wider resort offering and help lift Macau’s global profile. Alongside UFC, Jiang pointed to the company’s table tennis and volleyball events, including the ITTF Men’s and Women’s World Cup Macao and the Volleyball Nations League Women’s Finals, which are held in cooperation with the International Table Tennis Federation and the International Volleyball Federation.
Why Fans Travel
Jiang said sporting and showbiz events have something important in common: fans travel to see their stars perform. According to him, many UFC fans will make trips to Macau as a result of the presence of their favourite fighters in the upcoming Fight Nights at Galaxy Arena. Jiang thinks that many fans will come to Macau as a result of their favourite fighters being involved in the upcoming UFC Fight Nights. Furthermore, he argued that such fans would most probably belong to a higher financial category compared to normal visitors.
The executive said sports events can do more than draw ticket buyers. They can bring incremental demand to hotel stays, food and beverage, retail, MICE spaces and entertainment, creating a wider economic effect. He also said sports are effective at reaching high-value customers, including premium mass and high-net-worth segments, through hospitality experiences designed around the event.
Macau’s Wider Ambition
According to Jiang, Macau has very good possibilities for becoming one of the main entertainment and sports event destinations in Asia, based on its integrated resorts sector, supportive regulatory climate, and logistics. At the same time, according to him, there are certain challenges associated with reaching this objective.
In particular, the growing number of events leads to the fact that the calendar is getting crowded, which makes proper planning very important. In addition, Jiang stated that Macau should make efforts for continuing promotion of itself internationally, organizing efficient distribution, and creating appropriate travel packages to convert demand into increased stay periods.
He also stated that in addition to Macau, many other Asian cities, such as Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai, Tokyo, and Taipei are actively promoting themselves as entertainment and sport destinations and possess more space for large-scale events and comparable event organization experience. Galaxy Arena, he added, has the experience and skill to handle those demands while also working with local service providers to raise the standards of the city’s workforce.
Source: GGR Asia
