Beckham, Yao Ming come to NBA’s China Games as live events surge

When Dallas resident Barrington Traille read about the NBA China Games in his local newspaper, he said he knew it was the perfect 53rd wedding anniversary present for his wife.  

“I follow the Mavericks… and she follows the Rockets,” he said from The Venetian Macao, which hosted the games on Oct. 9 and 11. “I decided, hey, I’m going to give you a treat. We are going to China.” They planned the trip, their first to Asia, less than a week before tip-off and brought along their son Dominic.

The two Texas teams squared off in a pair of pre-season games over the weekend at the NBA China Games 2026, the second in a five-year deal to hold the event in Macao.

The decision made the Traille family a part of one of the fastest-growing trends in the travel industry: live event tourism, which includes traveling to attend music concerts, sporting events and business conferences.

The NBA China Games 2026 combined all three, blending professional basketball games, fan events featuring K-pop performances and an off-court summit with speakers ranging from Alibaba Chairman Joe Tsai to sports stars Yao Ming and David Beckham.

When Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour ended in 2024, live events were valued at $1.5 trillion, according to a report from the consulting firm Kearney. Come 2030, the sector is expected to reach nearly $2.8 trillion, it said.

For the NBA, the games are a chance to grow international fanbases in China, where basketball has long ranked among the nation’s top sports. The game was boosted by the success of former players Yao Ming and Jeremy Lin, and more recently by current Chinese players, like Portland Trail Blazers’ Yang Hansen.

And that fandom attracts dollars that travel beyond the NBA into the broader international sports ecosphere, from the growing collectibles industry to partnerships abroad.

In 2025, Luckin Coffee, China’s largest coffee chain, became the official coffee sponsor of the Portland Trail Blazers, following previous affiliations with the NBA China Games and the Houston Rockets.

“It’s not just about media exposure,” Chairman David Li told CNBC Thursday. “Sports embody discipline, professionalism (and) healthy living. These are very much intrinsic to Luckin’s brand DNA.”

With trillions on the global table, an intense battle for live events is happening off the court too, as countries vie for hosting rights that bring international cash and cachet to their cities. Winning events can involve coordinating national visa policies, city-level infrastructure spending and ensuring expertise in the private hospitality sector.

The pay-off can be massive in terms of income and international attention. The 2025 Australian Grand Prix generated more than $300 million in revenue for Melbourne, while the 2025 Singapore Formula One race reached more than 2 billion social media users, according to Kearney.

For Macao, the benefit of hosting the NBA China Games from 2025 to 2030 furthers the special administrative region’s efforts to diversify beyond gaming.

“Gaming is important,” said Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, the director of Macao’s Government Tourism Office. “But at the same time, we also need to develop other activities and other kinds of industries, so that we don’t put our eggs just in one basket.”

The six gaming operators in Macao are part of a push for non-gaming to comprise 60% of its GDP by 2030. When new gaming concessions were awarded in 2022, the six operators collectively pledged to invest 118.8 billion Macanese patacas ($14.7 billion), with more than 90% earmarked to explore new overseas markets and non-gaming projects, such as live music and sports events.

The Trailles are glad they came to Macao.

“It’s great,” said Barrington. “It’s Little Las Vegas.”

Dominic, who works in the hotel industry in Texas, echoed that sentiment.

“There’s a lot of money here,” he noted.