During Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to the city that ended on Friday, Sands China CEO and president Grant Chum said Macau was diversifying its economy away from gaming to become “a sports city and… an entertainment city.”
In an interview for “Squawk Box Asia– Chum cited the agreement announced in early December between Sands China and the National Basketball Association of North America to play two NBA preseason games in China.
“We will be bringing the NBA games in China back to China, but this time in Macau,” Chum told CNBC's Emily Tan. “We don't want to organize just a one-off event. We believe that a multi-year partnership that will see us playing pre-season games over several years will really strengthen Macau's position.”
The games are part of Sands China's pledge to invest $4.5 billion in the city by 2032, of which “more than 90%… will go to non-gaming investments,” Chum said.
Together, six game operators Macau – a special administrative region of China – has pledged to invest almost $15 billion to reduce its economy's dependence on gambling revenues. Gambling operator licenses have been renewed in 2022 – although for 10 years rather than 20 – after everyone promised to invest heavily in non-gaming projects.
But for some transformation can't come fast enough.
In a speech in Macau on Friday, Xi praised the special administrative region before laying out “three expectations” for the city, including a request to “keep pace with the trends of the times” while showing “greater courage in reform and innovation.” according to a transcript provided by the State Council of China.
Xi also urged the city to take steps to attract more foreign talent, a phrase repeated by Allan Zemannon-executive chairman Wynn Macao, on Thursday “Squawk Box Asia”
Building the Macau brand
Chum said Sands China has already completed one major project – the renovation of the 14,000-seat Venetian Arena, formerly known as Cotai Arena, in November.
“We have invested over $200 million in fundamentally modernizing and renovating the Venetian Arena,” he said. “This facility will be state-of-the-art not only for exhibitions and conventions, but also for live music concerts and increasingly important sporting events.”
The Venetian Arena will host NBA preseason games beginning in 2025. The first two games between the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns are scheduled for October, NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said. earlier this month.
Chum said these Games would strengthen Macau's position as a venue for major world events.
“We expect this will increase the value of the Macau brand over time,” he told CNBC.
Chum said Macau's gaming revenues had increased to about 80% of 2019 levels, and tourist arrivals – which he called “the most important health indicator for the tourism economy” – reached pre-pandemic levels in August and October.
Friday marked the 25th anniversary of the British handover of Macau to China in December 1999.
The deal with the NBA also means the return of preseason games to China for the first time since 2019. In October this year, China abruptly ended its deal to broadcast pre-season games in the country regarding a tweet by then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey expressed support for anti-Beijing protesters in Hong Kong.