GGRAsia – MGS trade event to expand into sports sector: Jay Chun

MGS trade event to expand into sports sector: Jay Chun

Nov 12, 2019 Newsdesk Latest News, MGS Entertainment Show 2019

The MGS Entertainment Show organisers plan to showcase a greater amount of sports-related equipment in future editions of the annual event, says Jay Chun (pictured in a file photo), chairman of the show’s primary promoter the Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (MGEMA).

Mr Chun – who is also chairman of Hong Kong-listed gaming equipment maker Paradise Entertainment Ltd – was speaking to GGRAsia on the sidelines of the opening ceremony of the casino industry trade exhibition and conference. It runs from Tuesday to Thursday at the Venetian Macao casino resort.

This year’s edition – said to span 20,000 square metres (215,278 sq feet) of exhibition space – features gaming and non-gaming products, covering gaming equipment, eSports, security systems, and procurement items for operators of so-called integrated resorts – casino complexes with hotels, conference space, shopping and other entertainment – and traditional hotels.

The trade event – known when it launched in 2013, as the “Macao Gaming Show” – subsequently shortened its branding to MGS. Since last year, its Chinese name has been modified, and translates as the “Macau Leisure Technology Show”. Since last year, two Chinese state-owned enterprises: Nam Kwong Culture and Creativity Industry Co Ltd; and China National Machinery Industry International Co Ltd, have become joint organisers of the trade show.

The partnership with the two Chinese companies is for three years, Mr Chun said in September last year.

“Our theme is always Macau’s leisure technology. We also focus on the land-based [casino suppliers], which is important. And you don’t see any online [gaming] showcases here,” Mr Chun remarked to us.

During another casino industry trade show held in Macau – Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2019, staged in May - Macau’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, confirmed in an email to GGRAsia that it was investigating what it termed suspected promotion of “illegal online gaming” by some exhibitors at that event. That was understood to be reference to what products are permitted in the local market.

MGS’s Mr Chun noted to us on Tuesday: “Regionally speaking, we have more [gaming] shows – in the Philippines, Australia, Macau and Cambodia,” Mr Chun added, “These types of events are indeed… spread out, but we feel that our show brand has no problem.”

In future, the trade show will feature more “sports and leisure” related offerings, Mr Chun noted to us.

According to a press release from the organisers, issued on November 7, this year’s trade exhibition at MGS Entertainment Show will have 150 exhibitors from “industries related to hospitality and entertainment,” including 30 first-time exhibitors.

At the opening address of the trade show on Tuesday, Mr Chun said the organisers were dedicated to making the MGS Entertainment Show the “best platform” for entertainment products from Macau, Asia and the global suppliers.