{"id":777026832,"date":"2025-05-23T09:55:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T12:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777026832"},"modified":"2026-04-21T22:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T01:40:11","slug":"japanese-bettors-wagered-us45bn-on-offshore-gambling-sites-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/japanese-bettors-wagered-us45bn-on-offshore-gambling-sites-in-2024","title":{"rendered":"Japanese bettors wagered US$45bn on offshore gambling sites in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Online gambling remains illegal in Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Japan.- The Council for Sports Ecosystem Promotion (C-SEP)<\/strong> has reported that bettors in Japan wagered about JPY6.45tn (US$45bn) <\/strong>on offshore sports betting sites in 2024. According to The Mainichi, that includes JPY1tn (US$6.94bn) on domestic sports. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An estimated JPY528bn (US$3.68bn) was wagered on pro baseball<\/strong>, JPY333.4bn (US$2.32bn) on soccer <\/strong>and JPY87bn (US$606m) on basketball<\/strong>. The global market for betting on Japanese sports, both online and offline is stated at JPY4.9tn (US$34.18bn). The estimates were derived from information obtained by C-SEP through consultations with international internet service providers and data firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March, the National Police Agency (NPA) <\/strong>found that\u00a03.37 million people in the country<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>had gambled at online casinos, spending around JPY1.24tn (US$8.4bn) annually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some players from professional baseball teams, including the Orix Buffaloes and the Yomiuri Giants, are facing legal action for gambling on online casinos. Nippon Professional Baseball has fined 16 people from eight teams a total of JPY 10.2m (US$75,175).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A land-based casino in Japan is in development in Osaka and horse racing betting is allowed, but online gambling is illegal and can be punished with fines of up to JNY500,000 (US$3,282) and prison sentences of up to three years. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said the government plans to set up a forum to\u00a0discuss the issue<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government may open\u00a0new applications for integrated resort (IR) licences<\/strong>, potentially reviving its initial plan to approve three developments. It\u2019s reported that two more permits could be awarded\u00a0by the end of 2027<\/strong>.\u00a0In March, Wakayama governor\u00a0Shuhei Kishimoto<\/strong>\u00a0said that the prefecture would consider bidding to host an IR with a casino if Japan opens a new round of applications.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Online gambling remains illegal in Japan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":16622,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Japan's Council for Sports Ecosystem Promotion reports JPY6.45tn wagered on offshore sports betting and JPY1.24tn on illegal online casinos annually, despite strict prohibitions and legal actions against athletes. Concurrently, the government is considering new integrated resort (IR) licenses, potentially expanding beyond the existing Osaka development, signaling an evolving regulatory landscape amidst a substantial grey market.","focusai_entities":"Council for Sports Ecosystem Promotion (C-SEP), The Mainichi, National Police Agency (NPA), Orix Buffaloes, Yomiuri Giants, Nippon Professional Baseball, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Shuhei Kishimoto","focusai_location":"Japan, Osaka, Wakayama","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (0.95), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), payments_fraud_aml (0.75), investor_analyst (0.95), supplier_vendor (0.85), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"IR License Expansion","query":"What specific changes to Japan's Integrated Resort (IR) implementation act or related ordinances would be required to facilitate the approval of two additional IR licenses by 2027, and what are the projected timelines for these legislative amendments?"},{"label":"Offshore Market Impact","query":"How does the reported JPY6.45tn wagered on offshore sports betting sites impact the potential GGR projections for a future regulated online iGaming market in Japan, and what strategies could mitigate channelization challenges?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,24628,158,155],"tags":[29,1897,225],"class_list":["post-777026832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-highlight-of-the-week","category-slider-home","category-sports-betting-news","tag-casino","tag-igaming","tag-legislation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777026832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777026832"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777026832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777026839,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777026832\/revisions\/777026839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777026832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777026832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777026832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}