Sands China should gain a significant market share boost when the NBA brings two pre-season games to Macau in October 2025, says brokerage Citigroup, with an NBA Legends game held at the recently renovated Venetian Arena on Saturday highlighting how the events can drive visitation.
According to analyst George Choi, the success of Saturday’s event – which featured NBA greats Tony Parker, Ray Allen, Tracy McGrady, DeMarcus Cousins, Stephon Marbury and Cuttino Mobley – shows that Sands can drive visitation for more than just concert events like the Jacky Cheung shows of 2023.
“Based on what we saw on the ground on Saturday, we believe Sands China will enjoy a significant advantage in market share terms over its peers when it hosts the two NBA pre-season games between the Phoenix Suns and the Brooklyn Nets on 10 and 12 October 2025,” Choi said in a note, adding this was the first time he had seen the nearby Starbucks full mid-week and comparing the crowds to the October Golden Week period.
He also pointed to the quality of the Cotai Arena, including the VIP facility, as being “top-notch, in our view, and we believe it will appeal to the highly sought-after premium mass players.”
Sands China recently outlined the new features of The Venetian Arena, reopened last month, as including state-of-the-art VIP amenities and suites, new decor and technical upgrades aimed at offering the “best arena acoustics” in Macau. The decision to focus on VIP amenities saw capacity reduced from 15,000 to 14,000.
Next year’s NBA pre-season games, announced on Friday, will represent the first time the NBA has taken games to Macau since 2007.
