CNBC Sport: NBA returns to Macao after 6-year hiatus in China

Published Thu, Oct 9 202510:00 AM EDT

Alex Sherman @in/alex-sherman @sherman4949

Contessa Brewer @contessabrewer

Jessica Golden @JGolden5

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Key Points

CNBC sat down with Las Vegas Sands President Patrick Dumont in Macao to talk about all things gambling and basketball.
"We've been operating here for 21 years, and we've invested $17 billion, so the amount of entertainment capacity here is really tremendous," Dumont told us.
Macao is intent on diversifying its economy away from its dependence on casinos.

A version of this article first appeared in the CNBC Sport newsletter with Alex Sherman, which brings you the biggest news and exclusive interviews from the worlds of sports business and media. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox. CNBC Sport is in China for this week's newsletter! And our Kickoff is a special guest submission from CNBC's Contessa Brewer and Jessica Golden — straight from Macao. Take it away, Contessa and Jess ... *** Hello from Macao! Basketball's back baby, returning to China after a six-year hiatus. The man who helped mastermind this week's exhibition games in Macao is none other than the new owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, Patrick Dumont. Dumont will also soon be the CEO of one of the biggest casino companies in the world, Las Vegas Sands. He has a lot riding on the success of the NBA games taking the court here this week. Contrary to its name, Las Vegas Sands no longer owns a casino in Las Vegas. Its casinos in Macao have been under pressure since the pandemic and are just now starting to see the kind of rebound that investors have been hoping for since borders completely reopened in early 2023. We sat down with Dumont for his CNBC debut interview in Macao to talk about all things gambling and basketball. "We've been operating here for 21 years, and we've invested $17 billion, so the amount of entertainment capacity here is really tremendous," Dumont told us. "The buzz is really here. It's very exciting here. You can feel it walking down the street. The NBA is everywhere. People start cheering when they see the players. It's very special." Watch the full conversation here. For those who don't know, Macao is a special administrative region of China — and the gambling capital of the world. To put it in perspective: In 2024, Macao's gross gaming revenue reached about $28 billion, according to the region's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. That's nearly double Nevada's record-setting $15.6 billion in the same year, according to the American Gaming Association. And if you think that's impressive, before the pandemic, Macao outpaced Vegas by nearly 7 times. But Macao is intent on diversifying its economy away from its dependence on casinos. It wants 60% of its GDP to come from non-gaming sources by 2028, the government has said. The government extracted promises from the six casino concessionaires to collectively spend billions on non-gaming amenities: fine dining, shopping, concerts, conferences and sporting events. It appears to be working: Visitation is up among day-trippers, according to Macao's government tourism office. Of course, casino investors are watching closely to see whether profits will get pinched if visitors gamble less. This week, we're getting an up-close look at the eye-popping amenities transforming Macao's luxury resorts. At MGM Macau, spa guests can relax in a room where real snow gently falls or swim through a simulated thunderstorm in an immersive experience pool. Over at Studio City, owned by Melco, families find suitable attractions for children including an indoor/outdoor waterpark and a skate park designed to be part of the hardscape. Wynn is offering a cutting-edge immersive dining experience. Meanwhile, Sands has committed almost $4 billion to non-gaming developments in Macao, Dumont said, including the Venetian arena, where the Brooklyn Nets will take on the Phoenix Suns Friday night. Tickets for the match-up are in high demand. At the upper end, they're going for more than $3,000. That may seem outrageous for two preseason games (Friday and Sunday) between non-marquee franchises — the Nets and the Suns aren't exactly loaded with star players. But it speaks to the popularity of basketball in China — and why international growth remains central to the NBA's long-term strategy. There will be more preseason games in China next year and in years to come, Dumont said. "We've created a lot of fan experiences here, and the goal is to really make something special where the fans of the NBA in Asia and China can really get a true taste of what the NBA has to offer," said Dumont. You may remember back in 2019, then-Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey's post about freedom of expression set off a firestorm. China immediately pulled NBA games from broadcast television, straining relations. The league was dark on Chinese state television, except for a lone finals game, until 2022, though games were aired on digital streaming platform Tencent. Now, as the spotlight turns to basketball diplomacy, we'll be talking with players, executives and league insiders about what's at stake and the opportunities ahead in the NBA's second-largest market. CNBC's live coverage from Macao continues all day Thursday and Friday. Don't miss it. Now, back to Alex. On the record with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones ... You can call it a flex if you want, but we're showcasing the power of CNBC Sport this week. Our On The Record is an interview conducted by my colleague Michael Ozanian with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. Jones said the key to the NFL's success is its year-round drama, from game play to the draft to free agency. He acknowledged he played into that entertaining plot by trading star pass rusher Micah Parsons at the start of the season. Jones retold a story about meeting with former Capital Cities/ABC CEO Dan Burke – who later sold the company to Disney. "[Burke] said, 'When I make a movie at ABC, I have to spend as much to promote it as I do to make it.' You don't do that on football. Football promotes itself," Jones told Ozanian in the interview, recorded back in September. "It's a soap opera 365 days here." Jones has added to the drama recently with his participation in "America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys," a Netflix documentary about his acquisition of the Cowboys and his role in steering the franchise to multiple Super Bowl wins in the 1990s – and none since 1996. And just this week, Jones paid a hefty $250,000 fine to the NFL for what he called an "unfortunate" and "unintentional" gesture to Jets fans during the Cowboys' Week 5 win. "The intention was thumbs up and then basically pointing at our fans because everybody was jumping up and down excited," Jones said. "I just put up the wrong show on the hand." You can watch the video of Jones here and judge for yourself. I know I'm always getting my fingers confused. You can also watch Mike's entire conversation with Jones here . Or listen here and follow the CNBC Sport podcast if you prefer the audio version. The audio version includes some behind-the-scenes information from Mike about his interview with Jones. CNBC Sport highlight reel The best of CNBC Sport from the past week: CNBC's Sara Eisen scored an exclusive interview with Nike CEO Elliott Hill this week about the company's turnaround plan. Hill blamed Nike's struggles on emphasizing digital distribution for too long in a post-Covid world. He said the key to Nike's cultural turnaround is to focus on athletes and sports – and acknowledged the company had gotten away from that mission in recent years. And sticking with our China theme this week, he said Nike remains "confident in the long-term opportunity" in China – as long as the shift toward sports isn't derailed. "We're telling stories that are more sport-led, and then at each of those moments we're doing more local footwear and apparel designs," Hill told Eisen. "That's having a good impact in China. And then leveraging not only global athletes but also local athletes as well. So this idea of global and local, we're working through to find the right balance. We believe that'll be a big part of our success moving forward." Ferrero, the parent company of brands like Kinder Bueno and, as of recently, WK Kellogg, is spending big on sports. The company announced marketing campaigns for the upcoming Super Bowl and World Cup. CNBC's Amelia Lucas has the details on Ferrero's efforts in the U.S. and on why it's using pro sports to get there. McLaren claimed F1's 2025 Constructors' Championship last weekend, leaning on terrific performances by both of its drivers this year, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris. CNBC spoke with McLaren CEO Zak Brown about expanding the reach of F1. The big number: 425 million That's the total attendance for MLB's regular season this year. That marks in-person growth for three straight seasons. Shorter games are helping with both TV ratings and attendance. TV ratings soared this year, with national TV games up more than 10% from last year. Quote of the week "The ones wanting you to get beat are as valuable as the ones that are wanting you to win." — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, telling our Mike Ozanian the value of fans that root against a team are equal to the value of the ones rooting for it. That may be a slight exaggeration, but he's talking about the worth of TV eyeballs – and his point is it may not matter why people are watching as long as they're watching. The Cowboys may not win, but if there are plenty of people interested in the team's demise – that can be useful too! Around the league Just days after ESPN reported the Big Ten has held discussions about a $2 billion private capital deal , Rep. Michael Baumgartner , R., Wash., introduced a House bill aimed at blocking private equity deals with athletic departments or conferences, Front Office Sports reports . The new owners of the Tampa Bay Rays say they can get the team back in hurricane-damaged Tropicana Field in time for next season. Then, they'll focus on opening a new stadium in time for the 2029 season, the Associated Press reports . The Rays played in George M. Steinbrenner Field this season – the normal Spring Training home for the New York Yankees. The Champions League wants global streamers including Netflix as new media partners to expand its reach, reports the U.K.'s The Times. Woj is back in the sports media game! Former ESPN and Yahoo basketball reporter – and more importantly, former CNBC Sport videocast guest – Adrian Wojnarowski is launching a YouTube series to help fund St. Bonaventure basketball's NIL efforts. In his interview with me back in May, Woj told me he wasn't planning on shutting down St. Bonaventure's NIL collective efforts because the school would need every penny to compete. He told the New York Times the show is a new out-of-the-box way to raise revenue for the program. Woj is the men's basketball program's general manager. A couple weeks ago, I spoke with billionaire investor Marc Lasry about why he's putting money behind Professional Bull Riders. I noted that I was shocked with how high the TV ratings for PBR are. Well, this past Sunday's broadcast drew an average of 2.7 million viewers. That's the most-watched PBR event since it began airing on CBS in 2012. It out-rated Sunday's New York Yankees-Toronto Game 2 on FS1, which drew 2.2 million. (In Canada, those numbers were higher – Game 2 averaged 3.5 million on Sportsnet .)