HONG KONG (Reuters) -The National Basketball Association’s (NBA) games in Macau on Friday and Sunday are a test for a broader China comeback, experts and state media said, as Chinese fans swarmed to the world’s biggest gambling hub to get a glimpse of the sport.
The NBA is playing two pre-season games, dubbed the “China Games 2025”, in the Chinese special administrative region, pitting the Brooklyn Nets against the Phoenix Suns at sold-out games in casino group Sands China’s Venetian arena.
Fans crowded outside the Sands property in Macau, clamouring to see players as they arrived.
The family of deceased founder billionaire Sheldon Adelson controls Las Vegas Sands and its Macau unit and brought the games to the city to diversify Macau’s non-gambling offerings.
The Adelson family also own the Texas-based NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks.
The games mark the first time the NBA is playing in Macau and follows a six-year absence amid controversy over comments supportive of Hong Kong pro-democracy protests in 2019.
The China market is key to the NBA, with around 300 million people playing basketball in the country.
The Macau event aims to garner support for the NBA at a time of rising political tensions between the United States and China. As part of a multi-year contract, the NBA will play in Macau for the next five years.
Playing in Macau, is a “very smart move,” said Mark Dreyer, author of a book on China’s sports industry, as it is a “soft re-entry into China.”
“This is a very cautious return. They came to China every year for 20 years. And to be out for what’s now six years is a long gap. Sensibly, they’re going to see how things go in Macau.”
Chinese state newspaper the Global Times said the NBA “needs to learn from its 2019 incident” and avoid a repeat of the “debacle and that the Macau games would only be a test run for the reconnection.”
The NBA’s absence followed comments by the Houston Rockets’ then general manager Daryl Morey, who posted a message on social media in support of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests.
Beijing swiftly suspended the broadcast of NBA games, prompting corporate sponsors to flee and the league to suffer what it described at the time as dramatic financial consequences. Pre-season NBA games in China were also cancelled.
Mole Zeng, a 26-year-old NBA fan from Hangzhou visiting the Venetian arena, said he expected the NBA to return to China “sooner or later”.
“As the NBA continues to grow in China, more and more star players will come here to meet us in person.”
(Reporting by Farah Master and Joyce Zhou; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
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