Hong Kong's Legislative Council (LegCo) passed the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025 by a large majority yesterday (Sept. 11) at its third reading, legalizing basketball betting. During the deliberation, while some legislators expressed concerns that opening up basketball betting might attract young people to gambling, the majority of those who spoke believed that regulating basketball betting could prevent huge sums of money from flowing into the illegal gambling market and also open up a new source of tax revenue.
The SAR government emphasized that regulating basketball betting aims to combat illegal gambling rather than promote it. The amended Betting Duty Ordinance authorizes the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs to issue a license to the Hong Kong Jockey Club for basketball betting, adopting the same tax calculation and collection method as for football betting, imposing a 50% tax on the net betting revenue.
New perspectives and regulations
LegCo member Kenneth Fok, representing the sports, performing arts, culture, and publication sector, noted that football betting has been legal for over 20 years, generating substantial revenue for the government, reaching HK$13.3 billion in the 2024-2025 fiscal year alone. He believes that legalizing basketball betting could similarly bring considerable income.
"The Jockey Club is a non-profit organization that fulfills social responsibilities and does not excessively promote gambling to attract citizens to become addicted," he said. He also suggested that the government allocate the related revenue to local sports development and enhance public education on staying away from gambling through the Ping Wo Fund.
Another member, Eunice Yung, who also supported the bill, noted that since the legalization of football betting, HK$1.5 trillion in betting turnover has been channeled into legal betting avenues. However, she also recommended setting betting limits for young people and implementing systems to monitor and identify excessive bettors, issuing warnings to them.
LegCo member Edward Lau stated that illegal gambling is hard to eradicate. "Having regulation is better than no regulation," he said, allowing citizens to choose legal channels and fundamentally reducing the harm illegal gambling inflicts on society.
Remaining concerns
Aside from the LegCo president, who did not vote as per convention, 77 of the 83 legislators present supported the amendment, two opposed it, two abstained, and Martin Liao did not vote due to his election as chairman of the Jockey Club at the end of last month.
Those who voted against the bill were Tik Chi-yuen, representing the social welfare sector, and Chu Kwok-keung, representing the education sector. The former stated that illegal gambling had increased rather than decreased after the legalization of football betting, reflecting that illegal gambling would not disappear with the legalization of betting. He also noted that illegal bookmakers would use tactics such as higher odds, "bet now, pay later," and live betting to attract customers, making law enforcement more challenging. The latter also believed that the legalization of football betting had not helped combat illegal gambling, citing cases where teachers and principals had been arrested for abusing their positions to obtain money for gambling.
Cracking down on illegal gambling
Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak stated after the bill was passed that the SAR government would refer to the current models for horse racing and football betting to issue a basketball betting license to the Jockey Club and establish relevant license conditions. The government will discuss the implementation timeline and other details with the Jockey Club.
"Since the regulation of football betting, illegal channels, whether in terms of website click-through rates or fund inflows, have declined."
She reiterated that cracking down on illegal gambling does not rely solely on providing a regulated framework but also requires a multi-pronged approach, including stringent law enforcement, publicity and education, and counseling services for those in need. She reaffirmed that the government would continue to combat illegal gambling through publicity, education, and strict law enforcement.
The Jockey Club responded yesterday by welcoming the LegCo's passage of the relevant bill, which establishes a regulatory framework for basketball betting and empowers the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs to issue a single basketball betting license to the Jockey Club based on the current football betting model.
(With input from Wen Wei Po; Journalist: Wu Jianyi)
Journalist's View | Legal basketball betting: What needs attention?
By Darius
As a city with a unique status, Hong Kong has a more relaxed environment and more precedents in betting, making it feasible to explore a new area like basketball betting.
The challenge, still, lies in whether basketball's influence in Hong Kong can reach the level of football, even though football betting has set a precedent. While we often see Hong Kong's basketball courts packed in the evenings, based on my observations, the proportion of minors participating in basketball is not low, making it difficult to fully estimate the number of people who can legally participate in betting. Additionally, influenced by British culture, Hong Kong's enthusiasm for football is higher, and the number of spectators for football is likely greater than for basketball. Therefore, the profitability and popularity of the new betting market will require long-term field research after its launch.
Moreover, the unpredictability of outcomes in a basketball game is not as high as in football. In a football match, the total number of goals is usually in single digits, while in basketball, a single team often scores over a hundred points. In football, even if one team dominates for over 90% of the match, the opponent might score a goal in the last minute and then change the outcome. In basketball, if a team is trailing by a large margin late in the game, the possibility of a comeback through shots worth a maximum of three points each is much smaller. Therefore, basketball game outcomes are relatively more stable, making betting less thrilling.
Thus, while Hong Kong can learn from the operation of other local gambling sectors, it can also look to the United States' NBA betting practices. Since 2018, NBA betting in the US has gradually developed a comprehensive system. This includes not only bets on individual games and player performances but also futures (such as long-term team performance and championship outcomes). Drawing on this experience could help establish a well-rounded betting system.
Finally, there is the perennial issue of regulation: How can profitability be achieved without fostering a culture that "encourages gambling"? How can the fairness of games be ensured? While these questions are obvious, given the extremely high profitability of gambling, we cannot allow anyone to exploit this avenue for illegal gain at the expense of others.
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LegCo passes bill legalizing basketball betting: Licenses to be issued to HK Jockey Club
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