Wednesday "saw the launch of the inaugural edition of The Super 8 basketball tournament at Studio City Macau" as part of a government initiative to "diversify the entertainment on offer with high-level sports," according to Nicolas Atkin of the SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST. Macau Sports Bureau VP Christine Lam said, "Let the youth in Macau experience the beauty of the basketball games here so that other than gambling, Macau is more like a diversified city. We're trying to do this more. People always think of Macau only for gaming, but we want to expand more for development." The Super 8 has brought together two top teams from each of the premier leagues of China, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan to Studio City for five days of competition. Lam: "We want to support big international organizations to host events in Macau just like The Super 8. It helps to promote Macau, and helps youth sports development." The organizers have TV broadcast deals with all the countries represented and "have their own live stream on Facebook." The Super 8 CEO Matt Beyer said, "We had a great turnout for the press conference and incredible broadcast ratings for day one for a brand new basketball property, which is proof the concept is solid" (SCMP, 9/21).
