HKJC welcomes proposal for legalisation of betting on basketball in Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Jockey Club will submit a detailed proposal to the government.
Hong Kong.- The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has expressed its support after the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (HKSARG) invited it to propose a regulated framework for basketball betting as part of the planned 2025-26 budget. It said it would submit a proposal to the government soon.
The HKJC said in a statement: “The club agrees that there is a strong case for taking this important step as an effective means to combat and arrest the rising trend of illegal basketball betting, which leads to numerous social problems, such as loan sharking and underage gambling. According to the Club’s estimates, the turnover of illegal basketball betting reached around HK$70bn (US$9bn) to HK$90bn (US$11.6bn) last year.”
During discussions on the budget, Chan Chun-ying, chairman of the Legislative Council’s Finance Committee, said that adding basketball betting to regulated offerings could generate over NT$1bn (US$30.5m) in annual revenue from gambling tax.
