World Cup boom for Chinese sports lottery

The ¥150m windfall is an approximate 700% increase from the opening day of the 2010 World Cup.

The rise reflects the expansion of betting options in the sports lottery, as well as an increase in the popularity of online gambling.

The Chinese lottery business traditionally receives a 25% -30% boost in World Cup years – online sales for 2014 are already up 63%.

The expansion of lottery options also reflects a growing appreciation of football in China.

Although gambling is officially illegal in China, the ruling Communist Party established the Sports Lotteries in 2009, using the proceeds to promote public fitness and support Chinese Olympic athletes.

The football prediction lottery in 2014 is subdivided into four categories including the predicting of overall scores in a round of matches, predicting the score in a single game, predicting points conceded and a mixture of the above.

However the lottery figures are still a drop in the ocean compared to the massive gambling black market.

The China Centre for Lottery Studies at Peking University estimated the illegal sports-betting market at £54 bn – 15 times that of the legal lottery market.

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Brad Allen

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Brad Allen is a journalist who worked as a Staff Writer at Gambling Insider from May 2014 to August 2014, contributing news coverage and feature content during a formative period for the publication’s digital and print platforms. In his role, Brad researched and wrote industry news, interviewed key figures, and helped develop editorial material that supported comprehensive coverage of regulatory changes, operator activity and market trends across the global gambling sector.

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