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52


Gaming


Back in the ring A


BY KIM LYON


fter a shaky start, mixed martial arts or MMA,


is back in town this month with Melco Crown’s


City of Dreams hosting the Legend 5 Fighting Championship on July 16. Outside the ring, odds are being


quoted on whether MMA can give the city’s casinos an edge in non-gaming revenue, following in the footsteps of Las Vegas. After all, MMA is one of the fastest-growing sports in the world, hav- ing already drawn live audiences of up to 60,000 to events in the United States and Japan. Jonathan Galaviz, an independent gaming and leisure industry strategist,


says “it is worth noting that the largest MMA organisation, the UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship],


is headquar-


tered in Las Vegas and owned by Las Vegas-based interests.” There the similarities end. Mr Galaviz believes a sophisticated


strategy for MMA is necessary if the sport is to take off in Macau. “It’s hard to say whether Asian consumers will eventually be willing to pay to see live MMA events in the way people do in the United States.” MMA has created a huge fan base in


the United States through pay-per-view broadcasts of  ghts – something that is


familiar to and accepted by Americans but uncommon in Asia. Those fans then  ll up the seats at live events. Unlike Las Vegas, where boxing and


casinos went hand in hand long before MMA arrived, Macau is a newcomer to hosting combat sport events. One of the  rst tournaments after gaming liberali- sation was what Galaxy Entertainment Group described as “the very  rst inter- national muay thai contest” in Macau, at the Macau Dome, in 2006.


Fury evaporates Shortly after, the city started hosting more combat sport events, although


Mixed martial arts is a hot combat sport that has suffered setbacks in Macau but City of Dreams is trying to tap the market and increase non-gaming revenue


JULY 2011


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