With increasingly easy access to the lucrative Chinese mainland sports market, Hong Kong is in pole position to become Asia’s leading sports hub. To make the most of this opportunity, Hong Kong sports organizers need to create conditions for top players that are not only financially rewarding but also enjoyable.
The Beatles used to sing the words “Money can’t buy me love”. When it comes to sport, the lyrics “Money can’t buy me enjoyment” would be more appropriate. The importance of enjoying an event is something seven-time snooker world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan cited when he won the 2022 Hong Kong Masters final against Marco Fu 6-4 in front of a record audience of 9,000 fans. In his winning speech O’Sullivan stated: “It’s unbelievable. Forget winning the tournament, to play in front of 9,000 fans is just incredible. I’ve been to the ATP tennis in London before and it felt something similar to that. I’ve never experienced it, and I didn’t think I would experience that. It is just incredible. The best event I’ve ever played in my life. I wanted it to carry on, so I am disappointed the tournament is over.” The following day, O’Sullivan wrote on his Facebook page: “Loved this week in Hong Kong. Such an amazing event with brilliant fans.”
O’Sullivan’s experience may well have played a part in influencing his decision to move to Hong Kong and also to influence fellow professional snooker player Judd Trump to do the same. Their relocation to Hong Kong flies in the face of false negative claims about the city made by British politicians and Western mainstream media, and sends out message that the city is a great place for sporting icons to live in or visit. The atmosphere, as described by O’Sullivan, is what the organizers of all Hong Kong sporting events should strive to achieve. No amount of money paid to sports stars can compensate for a poor atmosphere.
Sports organizers, particularly of soccer events, need to substantially improve their own performance. Notable areas to improve upon include fulfilling all promises made to both players and spectators, and setting ticket prices at levels realistic enough to fill stadiums. Packed stadiums help create an electric atmosphere necessary to attract the leading sports men and women, and to bring out the best in their performances. After beating Carlos Alcaraz at the Australian Open tennis tournament at one o’clock in the morning in January, during his post-match interview Novak Djokovic explained the importance of playing in a stadium packed with enthusiastic fans. When asked how he kept going at such a late hour, Djokovic replied: “We both fed off the energy of the crowd.”
Unfortunately, empty stadiums and organizers reneging on promises have plagued recent soccer events in Hong Kong. First there was the debacle with Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez sitting on the bench throughout their exhibition match against Hong Kong All Stars in February last year. Messi and Suarez had been promoted as playing and were the major reason 38,000 people paid up to HK$4,880 ($626) each to attend. When neither player took to the pitch, spectators turned hostile and booed the players before eventually securing a partial refund on their ticket prices if they agreed not to pursue legal action. However, the damage done to Hong Kong’s reputation as a sporting hub is likely to be far greater than the money refunded to spectators.
When it comes to Legends events, there is a limited market for highly priced tickets, something the organizers of the Legends game between Barcelona and Real Madrid late last year failed to take into account when charging HK$680 to HK$6,880 per ticket. It was little surprise that only 7,982 spectators attended the game played in a 40,000-seater stadium. While names of Real Madrid icon Fernando Morientes and Barcelona star Luis Garcia mean a great deal to soccer fans of a certain age, the younger generation, unless they are avid followers of the game, may not even have heard of them. Promoting Legends matches as competitive with images of players from 20 years ago is also a little disingenuous, if not misrepresentation, by organizers. To fill stadiums with spectators to watch yesterday’s heroes, pricing and marketing need to fundamentally change. High prices are achievable for niche packages but the bulk of tickets prices may need to drop as low as HK$50 to attract fans curious to watch the golden oldies.
Organizers of sports events should be aware of the need to fill stadiums to generate the energy required to bring out the best in players and encourage big sporting names to play in Hong Kong
Sparsely populated stadiums produce a poor atmosphere for players and fans alike. No amount of money compensates for a poor atmosphere. In the absence of cheering crowds, players’ hearts will not be in the game, performance levels will suffer, and fans will be disappointed. This is exactly what happened at the poorly attended Real Madrid and Barcelona Legends match where play was lethargic and uninspiring. The negative energy generated by so many empty seats permeated around the stadium and into the players’ hearts. Negative energy, although invisible, is very real and contagious and may have contributed to the players being dissatisfied with the arrangements and not following through on their promises to meet with and sign autographs for fans who had paid a staggering HK$6,880 for their “meet and greet” tickets.
For Hong Kong to fulfill its potential as a sports hub and build on the success of the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament and the city’s convenient access to the mainland market, promotion of events needs to be more honest. Promoters need to ensure all promises to players and fans are fully met, there needs to be a wider range of ticket prices and easier access to booking tickets with all forms of payment available at the venue, including booths allowing tickets to be purchased for cash; not everyone wants to go online to buy tickets. On-site booths would also allow tickets to be returned and resold. Organizers of sports events should be aware of the need to fill stadiums to generate the energy required to bring out the best in players and encourage big sporting names to play in Hong Kong.
The author has a PhD, LLM, and MA, and was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1996. He is now a Hong Kong permanent resident.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
