China’s sports lottery blooms around the World Cup

The 2018 FIFA World Cup has brought China’s Sports Lottery sales to a 126 per cent increase in comparison to the previous one.

China.- The 2018 FIFA World Cup has China winning big… just not in football (the national team failed to qualify for the tournament). The country’s Sports Lottery website, however, has reported a 126 per cent increase in sales for the week of June 11th-17th in comparison to the same period from 2014, when the last World Cup was held.

The tournament kicked off on June 14th and had sales of US$245.9 million. On the 15th sales grew to US$307.4 million and to US$353.5 million on the 16th, posting a new record each day since the lottery launched in 2009.

The sales increase has been more than significant, especially when considering that the government banned online sales and only allows land-based wagering. According to local media, the online prohibition has led to informal betting pools on different chatting apps that have people placing bets between US$46 and US$3,100.

In April, overall sports lottery sales in China posted a nine per cent increase in its sales as they reached US$6.5 billion. The segment overtook its welfare lottery counterpart and has reached US$23.1 billion, a 9.3 per cent increase for the year to date in comparison to 2017. However, this month, the segment is on track to post way higher figures.