Malaysia need to host smaller sporting events to stay relevant

MALAYSIA used to host prestigious sporting events like the ATP and WTA Malaysian Opens (tennis), CIMB Classic (PGA golf), Formula 1, World Superbike Championships, Formula E (all motorsports), ONE Championship (MMA) and Monsoon Cup (sailing). That was almost a decade ago.

All these events have since disappeared from the calendar and unlikely to return in the future.

The country’s once bustling sports scene has slowly dwindled as soaring sanctioning fees made it nearly impossible to retain them.

Then the Covid-19 pandemic saw the sports ecosystem grind to a halt. But the pandemic aside, the fact remains that the skyrocketing cost of hosting major tournaments has been a big deterrent to event organisers.

The rise of social media and live streaming has also reshaped sponsorship dynamics.

Sponsors used to look at return of investment based on media publicity value from traditional platforms like television and print.

But things have changed as social media offers more targeted marketing, making traditional media exposure less valuable.

The economic uncertainties affecting the world is also another obstacle to hosting big ticket events.

It is also a fact that many corporate companies in Malaysia only jump into sponsorship through government intervention.

But all is not lost if the powers that be can come together and change their strategy by looking at smaller international events instead.

These events cost less to run and build up over time. Malaysia can perhaps step in as hosts for qualifying meets for international competitions.

If nurtured properly and with targeted aggressive promotion, these events have the potential to grow.

Two events that have remained largely relevant to Malaysia and still continue to this day are the Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL), which has been held since 1996, and the Malaysian Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP), which has taken place since 1991.

The Malaysian GP perhaps is one of the keenly awaited leg of the MotoGP world championship and attracts a total weekend attendance of more than 100,000 in the last few years.

The Maybank Championship, an LPGA Tour event, will be staged for the third consecutive year from Oct 30-Nov 2 and also one of the big golfing events in the region.

There is hope but people bringing in the sports events certainly have to think out of the box to ensure it remains relevant in current times.