MGM China’s President Kenneth Feng says he expects the return of the NBA to Macau this weekend will have benefited his company’s operations – and those of all six concessionaires – but warned that investment into other non-gaming attractions must continue to be meaningful.
Feng spoke with US media outlet CNBC on the eve of two NBA pre-season games being played at Sands China’s The Venetian Arena on Friday and Sunday between the Phoenix Suns and Brooklyn Nets – the first time the NBA has visited Chinese shores since 2019.
At a time when high-profile concerts have provided a significant boost to the city’s gaming revenues, Feng said he expects the NBA games to provide a similar knock-on effect.
“I think we certainly we are benefiting from that,” he explained. “I’m glad our other operators are bringing more quality events. I think they are delivering on their commitments as well. For the past few years every operator [has been] doing their job based on their niche, based on what they can do, just like what MGM has done with our museum exhibitions.
“So, bringing in these kinds of events will bring in a lot more visitation and a lot more quality visitors. Macau is to some extent geographically quite small at 33 square kilometers. Even the Cotai strip compared to the Las Vegas Strip is four or five times smaller. I mean, we can walk anywhere. So, as long as [future events are the same quality as] this NBA event, the six of us will benefit and that’s the beauty of being small.”
Small it may be but Macau dwarfs Las Vegas when it comes to gaming revenues – in 2024 around three-and-a-half times higher at MOP$226.8 billion (US$28.3 billion) than the US$8.9 billion generated by Las Vegas Strip properties and on track to edge higher in 2025.
It is because of this that the Macau government mandated during the re-tender process in 2022 that concessionaires spend a combined MOP$130.4 billion (US$16.3 billion) on non-gaming attractions throughout the life of their new 10-year concessions. Around MOP$16.7 billion (US$2.1 billion) of that is to come from MGM China.
Feng said that while concessionaires have been deploying a portion of those investments over the past three years, they have also realized the importance of spending their money wisely.
“All operators have been working very hard to deliver quality events, quality programs and non-gaming infrastructure investments,” he said. “But it takes time and … just like the government, we are also learning. We are trying to improve.
“We want to make sure these non-gaming investments are more effective and more financially meaningful.
“We have the capability [to host more events] but the kind of events we are doing here have to be meaningful, have to be sustainable and things that people like to watch – that it is not purely a name. I think that’s key going forward for these kinds of events.”
Feng also expressed his confidence that MGM would report strong numbers for the recently concluded National Day Golden Week holiday – despite the impact of a No.8 typhoon early in the week and a clash with the Mid-Autumn Festival.
“Typically, customers will head back to their families and reunite with their family members to celebrate [Mid-Autumn Festival] but for the seven days the city still recorded a 7% increase in terms of visitation,” he said.
“We had [almost] 150,000 visitors on a daily basis so it [was] quite successful. And at MGM, our operating performance – I feel quite confident we will deliver a meaningful increase compared to the same period [last year].”
