Ambitious officials betting on casino cash to help spur growth of tournament
The Macau Open, which is celebrating its 10th birthday today, is in a hurry to grow up. The city's top sports official, Jose Tavares, admitted yesterday that plans were afoot to join the company of the big boys in Asia by increasing prize money to US$1 million in the future.
'I want to see US$1 million on offer at the Macau Open next year,' said Tavares, acting president of the Macau Sports Development Board. 'But for this to happen, the private sector has to get involved. The government can't do it.'
The aim, according to Tavares, is to get the casinos to come in as title sponsors and relieve the financial burden from the Macau SDB, the government body in charge of sports.
'We are working hard in this area. Melco, which runs the Crown casino, is supporting us a little bit this year and we hope they will give us more next year. Without the private sector we can only maintain the prize money at the present level,' Tavares said.
Sport in Macau has benefited from the recent influx of casinos. The Venetian will bring Manchester United in July to play an exhibition match, and later in the year, will host two NBA teams - the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic - in a series of games also featuring the China national side. The Macau Marathon is backed by the Galaxy Group.
Manuel Silverio, who was at the helm when Macau hosted the East Asian Games in 2005 and is also the chairman of the Macau Asian Indoor Games Organising Committee, recently said: 'Our aim is to turn Macau into a sporting capital for the region. We want to have top-quality sports events in Macau all year round.'
