The Night Vibes Hong Kong campaign, aimed at helping to revitalize the city’s nighttime economy, should also set its sights on sports activities and events.

     The sports industry can contribute to the resurrection of the local nighttime economy.

     According to academic theory, a sport’s appeal and development potential depend on factors like competitive intensity and athletes’ performance. For instance, the English Premier League’s global audience is drawn to world-class competition. Similarly, Hong Kong athletes have excelled in various sports. Hong Kong athletes won six medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and 53 medals at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

     With the community’s growing passion for sports, particularly those in which Hong Kong athletes participate, the sports industry can create a strong impetus for growth in the nighttime economy.

     Staging sporting events in Hong Kong can stimulate the nighttime economy. The New East Manchester sporting project is a good example, attracting 40,000 sports tourists per home game and generating 2 billion pounds ($2.53 billion) in investment while creating over 9,800 jobs from the development of surrounding facilities. Hong Kong can replicate this success story by importing international tournaments, or organizing regular local, national, regional or international competitions. With experience gained from co-hosting the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events, and hosting the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament, the Hong Kong International Tennis Challenge and the Hong Kong Open golf tournament, Hong Kong is well-positioned to host mega sporting events and attract global sports tourists.

     Hong Kong can apply its expertise in importing or hosting mega sporting events to a wider variety of sports. To maximize its comparative advantages, the city should focus on organizing events in sports that local athletes have achieved outstanding success in, such as fencing, swimming, table tennis, rugby, golf and cycling. Hong Kong athletes have performed exceptionally well in these sports, and therefore have the potential to produce fascinating matches that can attract sports tourists and contribute to the nighttime economy.

     Moreover, given Hong Kong athletes’ good performance in these sports, Hong Kong residents are more passionate about attending these events in person, creating a demand for services and goods offered by nearby businesses and thus contributing to the nighttime economy. Furthermore, the Hong Kong SAR government can promote these sporting events by providing more facilities for lease, collaborating with arcades to stream matches and drive foot traffic to shopping centers, and offering discounted tickets to boost attendance.

     However, the itinerary of sports tourists affects the financial benefits to the nighttime economy. For example, Parramatta, a city in Greater Western Sydney, Australia, failed to capitalize on Asian Champions League soccer games to benefit its nighttime economy as most of the visitors attending the games were on club-arranged trips that arrived just before a game commenced and left immediately after the final whistle, leaving visitors virtually no time to enjoy the attractions in the city. To avoid this issue, the Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau in Hong Kong should collaborate with the sports organizations concerned and with the Hong Kong Tourism Board before a match to ensure sports tourists will have ample time and guidance to visit Hong Kong’s attractions before or after a game. This would transform sports tourists into contributors to the nighttime economy.

     In addition to elite sports events, local sports activities can boost the nighttime economy by attracting young people. Studies have shown that sports events are more likely to draw young people who are willing to patronize services beyond the sporting event. To take advantage of this, the Culture, Sports, and Tourism Bureau should work with sports organizations and universities to create regular interuniversity leagues in the evening. The government should also consider turning the present citywide interschool sports competitions into weekly after-school matches, which would not only promote the health of our younger generation but also encourage more young people to participate in sports in the evening, thereby contributing to the nighttime economy.

     Moreover, higher fees for evening use of public sports and recreation facilities may discourage young people from participating in sports. To encourage participation during the evenings, discounts should be offered. The Sport For All Day event, which offers free sports and recreation programs at designated Leisure and Cultural Services Department venues, has been successful in attracting residents. In 2023, nearly 200,000 people participated in the event. A usage rate of around 99 percent was recorded for the main arenas at sports centers. Thus the demand for sports facilities is elastic. The department can draw from this experience and offer discounts for evening use of facilities to promote participation in sports during the evenings and contribute to the revitalization of the nighttime economy.

     Lastly, according to academic studies, late-night sports events often lead to antisocial behavior such as binge drinking and gambling, which can discourage fans from staying in the area to consume goods and services. To maintain an orderly environment, the Hong Kong Police Force could carry out high-profile patrols and run campaigns on law and order for nighttime activities. The government should strike a balance between crowd safety management and nighttime economy development. Parramatta’s experience in hosting the Asian Champions League games showed that restricting visitors to the venue for the event and its immediate environs leads to a simple passage of visiting sports fans through the area outside the stadium to a transport node; they do little to benefit the city’s nighttime economy beyond the stadium itself. To address this, the authorities could offer special traffic arrangements to ensure public safety while diverting the crowd into districts that can provide enough economic services to these customers.

     Crowd management strategies for sports events should be formulated in the context of reinforcing Hong Kong’s development of arts, cultural, and creative industries. Hong Kong can emulate the success of the US’ National Football League in bridging sports with popular culture, inviting big names from the music industry to perform during intervals, captivating a wider audience and spurring the nighttime economy. Kai Tak Sports Park is the ideal venue for such events, as it is equipped with a multipurpose stadium suitable for sports and pop concerts. However, sports, as a form of popular culture, can sometimes clash with the more sophisticated, refined, art-oriented nighttime culture. Academic David Rowe found that sports precincts are often separated from central business districts and excluded from arts and cultural strategies. Therefore, crowd management strategies should prevent attendees of popular culture events at Kai Tak from being predominantly diverted to the West Kowloon Cultural District, in order to ensure diverse cultural industry development in Hong Kong.