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Oscar Liu

The betting turnover of local races has dropped by nearly 10 per cent in the past year, with the Hong Kong Jockey Club attributing the decline to increased illegal gambling and residents spending outside the city.
The city’s sole authorised gambling operator, which announced its annual results on Wednesday, also said there was a strong case to support the extension of its licence to cover betting on other sports given the “rising and major threat” of illegal gambling.
The club said it faced significant external challenges during the 2023-24 financial year, including factors such as rising competition from Macau’s casinos.
“A fundamental post-pandemic shift in consumer behaviour in favour of new digital experiences and outbound travel impacted race-going and racing wagering,” the club said.
Betting turnover for local races for the season spanning September 10 last year to this past July 14 declined by 9.3 per cent, the organisation said.
Efforts to expand its global customer base were insufficient to offset the overall decline, with total horse racing bets dropping by 3.1 per cent to HK$136.1 billion (US$17.45 billion) in the financial year, it said.
The gambling operator logged a total turnover of HK$304.9 billion, an amount unchanged over the previous year, but its net margin dropped by 10.5 per cent to HK$14.8 billion due to the annual special football betting duty of HK$2.4 billion.
“Having taken everything that the pandemic had to throw at us, we have had to contend with an extremely challenging macroeconomic environment … Despite this, the club has continued to deliver outstanding racing entertainment and the strongest support for our community,” said club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges.
Turnover from football betting increased by 2.2 per cent to a record high of HK$160.3 billion, as additional matches, the introduction of 24-hour operations and new betting products helped boost the figure and counter illegal markets, the club said.
But the organisation noted that with the additional annual HK$2.4 billion in special football betting duty it must pay for five years from April 2023, income from soccer was down by 16.6 per cent to HK$8.1 billion.
Revenue from the Mark Six lottery rose by 13.3 per cent to HK$8.5 billion, which the club attributed to refinements to the jackpot reserve model allowing it to offer bigger prizes.
The club said illegal gambling had expanded massively during the pandemic and continued to grow faster than legal channels.
“Two years ago, the club estimated total illegal turnover was HK$339 to HK$355 billion – more than was bet through legal channels. Today those numbers are undoubtedly much higher,” it said.
“This is why the club believes there is a need to fully examine the magnitude of illegal betting on other sports, especially basketball, and that a strong case can be made to extend the club’s licence.”

It added it would continue to keep the government fully informed of the scope and scale of illegal betting, while recognising that any expansion of sports betting was up to the government to decide.
In 2003, the government authorised the Jockey Club to operate betting on selected overseas football matches, with proceeds contributing to betting duties and charitable causes in a bid to combat illegal betting.
Lawmaker Doreen Kong Yuk-foon said expanding the club’s betting licence to other sports required sufficient justification as simply seeking additional gambling revenue was not a valid reason.
“While combating illegal gambling is a legitimate goal, legal football betting was introduced years ago and illegal gambling still persists on the sidelines,” Kong said. “Prohibiting an activity does not always require making it legal. There are various ways to combat it, such as strengthening enforcement.
“Gambling is never something that should be promoted. We need to consider what impact new sport betting might have on society especially during the economic downturn.”
On the charity front, the club announced a record HK$40.1 billion had gone back into the community over the financial year, representing a 11.6 per cent increase year on year.
The amount included HK$29.9 billion in betting duty, profits tax and lotteries fund contributions, as well as HK$10.2 billion in approved charity donations.


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