The National Basketball Association (NBA) has signed a multimillion-dollar agreement to stage preseason games in Macau, taking the sport to the doorstep of its biggest potential market as it struggles at home to regain the mass viewership it enjoyed before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The NBA plans to host two preseason games per year over the next five years at The Venetian Arena operated by Sands China in Macau, the former Portuguese territory near Hong Kong and the Chinese city of Zhuhai. The Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns will kick off the partnership with two games on October 10 and 12 next year, according to the NBA’s deputy commissioner Mark Tatum.
