{"id":777029407,"date":"2025-07-23T11:36:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T14:36:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777029407"},"modified":"2026-04-21T20:44:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T23:44:11","slug":"hong-kong-says-basketball-betting-bill-is-about-more-than-revenue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/hong-kong-says-basketball-betting-bill-is-about-more-than-revenue","title":{"rendered":"Hong Kong says basketball betting bill is about more than revenue"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The government says proposed legislation is aimed at tackling illegal gambling markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Hong Kong.- The Hong Kong government has stressed that its decision to move ahead with plans to legalise regulated basketball betting<\/a> is not only about generating revenue. Speaking to the press, secretary for home and youth affairs Alice Mak said the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025 is focused on reducing unregulated wagering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTaxation is certainly not our concern,\u201d she said, claiming that the 50 per cent duty on net betting revenue is incidental, not a fiscal strategy. Mak said the goal is to direct demand toward safer, regulated channels that allow authorities to monitor activity and minimise criminal influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Details such as which basketball matches will be eligible for legal betting are yet to be determined. The Bureau plans to consult with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the city\u2019s sole licensed betting operator, once the legislation is passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While some submissions called for the Jockey Club to channel additional funds into sports and charity initiatives, the government noted that such provisions are outside the scope of the bill, though the feedback has been forwarded for consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Regulatory framework for basketball betting in Hong Kong to get Legislative Council reading<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government says proposed legislation is aimed at tackling illegal gambling markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777023348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Hong Kong government is advancing the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025 to legalize regulated basketball betting, primarily to combat illegal gambling rather than generate revenue. Secretary Alice Mak emphasized the goal is to direct demand towards safer, monitored channels, with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, the sole licensed operator, to be consulted on implementation details.","focusai_entities":"Hong Kong government, Alice Mak, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Legislative Council","focusai_location":"Hong Kong","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.85), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.75), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"HKJC Compliance Impact","query":"What specific enhancements to its regulatory compliance and responsible gambling frameworks will the Hong Kong Jockey Club be required to implement to support the newly legalized basketball betting vertical?"},{"label":"Illegal Market Efficacy","query":"Beyond revenue generation, what key performance indicators will the Hong Kong government utilize to assess the effectiveness of the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025 in mitigating illegal gambling market activity?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,154],"tags":[1619,22317,225],"class_list":["post-777029407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-legislation-news","tag-hong-kong","tag-hong-kong-jockey-club","tag-legislation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777029407","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\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777029407"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777029407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777029420,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777029407\/revisions\/777029420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777023348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777029407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777029407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777029407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}