Macau Grand Prix Secures Casino Sponsorships, Follows City’s Hosting of NBA
Posted on: October 13, 2025, 09:33h.
Last updated on: October 13, 2025, 10:11h.
- The Macau Grand Prix will be held for its 72nd year next month
- The city’s six casinos are sponsoring the racing event
The 72nd running of the Macau Grand Prix will once again be presented by the city’s six casino operators.
On Monday, the Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee announced the details for the November 13-16 event. The committee confirmed that Sands, Galaxy, Wynn, MGM, SJM, and Melco have each pledged MOP20 million (US$2.5 million) to the seven-race competition.
Planning officials said the sporting event is estimated to cost $30 million. The casinos will account for $15 million.
The annual Macau Grand Prix is a collaboration between the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government.
Race is Key to Diversification
Macau and its casino partners continue to diversify the region away from a gaming-first mentality. The Macau Grand Prix has long played a role in enticing nongaming visitors to the world’s richest gaming market.
Last year’s running attracted over 100K spectators, leading to most casino hotels selling out on elevated nightly rates. Visitors spend heavily on food and beverage, transportation, and retail shopping. Casinos also manage to convert many guests into casual gamblers.
Events like the Macau Grand Prix attract substantial tourists from overseas and mainland China, stimulating the tourism economy and propelling the development of related industries such as hospitality, transportation, dining, and retail,” said Luís Gomes, the Macau Sports Bureau president and coordinator of the Macau Grand Prix Organizing Committee. “The Macau Grand Prix is the most historic sporting event in Macao and one of the world’s most anticipated motorsport events.”
Unlike the Las Vegas Grand Prix, an F1 event, the Macau Grand Prix offers more than just one championship. The Macau competition additionally features races involving motorcycles, touring, grand touring, and sports cars.
Sports Hub
The Macau SAR Government continues to pursue a more prominent standing in Asian sports. Similar to how Las Vegas rapidly emerged as a major player in the US sports landscape, hosting the 2024 Super Bowl and becoming home to the NFL Raiders, Macau believes sports can aid in its diversification goals.
This past weekend, the NBA returned to China after six years by way of Macau with two preseason exhibition games between the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns. The sold-out games were held at The Venetian Arena on the Cotai Strip.
The Venetian is one of Sands China’s five integrated resort casinos in Macau. Sands is controlled by Dr. Miriam Adelson, the largest shareholder of the Sands empire. Along with her casino empire, which she inherited from her husband, Sheldon Adelson, after he died in early 2021, Adelson is the controlling stakeholder of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
Adelson’s son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, who co-owns the Mavs with her, said he plans to bring regular-season games to Macau.
The Mavericks and the [Houston] Rockets here in Macau next year. Are you ready?” Dumont teased during a discussion regarding the preseason games at The Venetian.
The Rockets are among the most popular NBA teams in China, largely because of Yao Ming, a Shanghai native, who spent his entire nine-year career in Houston.
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