Sports Bureau: Macao Golf Open may return in the future

An ID representative said the Macao Open has been canceled this year

The head of the major events department at the Sports Bureau (ID) told the media yesterday that although the Macao Open has been canceled this year, the prestigious golf tournament may return in the future.

“In the future, I can’t say whether it will continue,” said Lei Si Leng, who heads the ID department which is responsible for the Macau Grand Prix and other major sporting events. “I can only tell you that we are not planning to have the Macao Open this year. […] We can’t say that in the future, we won’t do the event again.”

The event was canceled earlier this week on account of a lack of commercial sponsorship. Between 2012 and 2016, its title sponsor was The Venetian Macao, but last year the Macao Open proceeded without a sponsor.

Asked by the Times whether Sands China or the Venetian Macao was interested in stepping in last minute to help reinstate the tournament, a representative of the company said only that “at this stage we have no further comments to add.”

Lei says that there were other factors that contributed to the decision too. Among them was the implication that her department was overburdened.

“We decided that since we have many other events going on this year we don’t have the conditions to have the Macao Open,” she said. “But who knows? If one day, we do think we have the right conditions then we might do it again.”

The comments were made on the sidelines of a press conference hosted by ID for the upcoming FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League Macau round, to be held in between May 22 and 24. The 16 teams taking part in this year’s Nations League will compete in a round-robin format with every core team hosting a pool at least once. The teams are divided into four pools of four teams at each week and compete five weeks long, with a total of 120 matches. The Macau round will pit China, Thailand, Serbia and Poland against each other with the games taking place over three weekdays; a break from previous years when the competition was held on the weekend.

Asked whether the scheduling change will affect the ability of local spectators to attend, Lei said organizers would only evaluate its effect after the competition. She also said that many tourists continue to enjoy the event, but could not provide the proportion of the spectators who are non-local. “We don’t have a very accurate number [for the tourist versus visitor spectators], but we do know that we have a [large] number of visitors, because they take their luggage with them. We see especially visitors from Hong Kong, Zhuhai and nearby places,” she said. “They definitely come to Macau for this event.”

Galaxy Entertainment Group return as the title sponsor for this year’s FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations league – Macau. “This [sponsorship] has been a great opportunity for GEG to fulfill its corporate social responsibility in supporting the development of sport activities in Macau,” said Philip Cheng, director of Galaxy Entertainment Group, at yesterday’s press conference. He said that the casino operator wants to introduce “more new elements to broaden the appeal of the event and encourage greater public participation.”

Asked about these interactive ideas, Lei said she could not disclose what they are at present. “I cannot mention them now because people are expecting to have some surprises later,” she said. “We do want to have some new elements to attract people to come. […] We will promise that we will have them… but I cannot tell you now because we are still preparing them.”

Tickets will go on sale starting from April 2 at designated Circle K Convenience Stores across Macau, with each ticket priced at MOP150 per competition day and valid for both games scheduled on the day.