Hong Kong may look to legalise basketball betting
This comes ahead of Hong Kong’s budget for 2025-26 being delivered on Wednesday.
Key points:
– There have been previous calls to legalise betting on the sport
– It would add a third sport to betting options in Hong Kong
According to reports, Hong Kong is considering the legalisation of basketball betting in an effort to raise extra revenue for the government.
Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po is set to deliver the 2025-26 budget for the region this coming Wednesday (26 February), with reports saying that legalising basketball betting would help to raise government revenues in an effort to tackle Hong Kong’s nearly HK$100bn (US$12.9bn) deficit.
Good to know: The Hong Kong Jockey Club’s figures for its 2023/24 financial year showed a slight rise in football turnover
If this measure were to be introduced it would allow the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), which holds a monopoly on betting in the region, to expand its sports gambling options, which at present includes football and horseracing, on top of the Mark Six Lottery it provides.
This isn’t the first time that this proposal has been spoken about in Hong Kong, with calls for legalising basketball betting around this time last year rejected by Chan himself, with the Minister suggesting that legalisation could send the wrong message, encouraging young people to gamble.
At the time, a number of political parties called for basketball betting to be introduced in an effort to combat illegal gambling and help increase public revenue, with the HKJC emphasising the new need to introduce new betting options to counteract illegal bookmakers.
Gambling Insider delivers the latest industry news, in-depth features, and operator reviews that you can trust. Our team combines rigorous editorial standards with decades of specialized expertise to ensure accuracy and fairness. We are committed to delivering clear, impartial, and dependable coverage across the global gambling sector.
