Hong Kong’s finance chief has rejected calls to legalise basketball betting, saying he had deep reservations about the move which could encourage more young people to gamble.
Speaking at the “Redefining Hong Kong: Budget Edition” event organised by the Post on Friday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po stressed that the proposed measure might send the wrong message to the public.
Chan was responding to calls by several political parties for the introduction of basketball betting to combat illegal gambling while increasing public revenue amid the hefty deficit.
“[For] legalising additional gambling for the purpose of raising government revenue, I am really hesitant. I don’t think this is the right direction,” he said. “If we legalised that, it would affect our youth, and in a way the signal is that the government doesn’t have enough money and we don’t mind people gambling with it and we take a cut.”
The Hong Kong Jockey Club earlier said it welcomed the proposal and was happy to explore its feasibility with the government and community, emphasising that it needed to introduce new betting options to counteract illegal bookmakers.
The club has said such expansion could help redirect demand from illegal off-course gambling to legal channels as illegal and overseas betting operators reaped more than HK$15 billion (US$1.91 billion) in profits annually from Hong Kong.
The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong was among the groups calling for the finance chief to add legalised basketball betting to his budget.
Lawmaker and party member Frankie Ngan Man-yu said that while increased revenue would be a good “side effect”, the request was made mainly to tackle illegal gambling.
Proposal to raise taxes on betting in Hong Kong to be considered, minister says
Proposal to raise taxes on betting in Hong Kong to be considered, minister says
“So if the Jockey Club could expand its scope to include other events, such as basketball, then we can legally cater to those who might like to gamble on only this sport, but have no other choice currently apart from illegal gambling, in a controlled manner,” he said.
“Within this group, we can also do some educational work to promote responsible gambling.”
Ngan added while there were no official statistics to show basketball betting was in higher demand, it was one of the more popular sports in Hong Kong outside of football, with the number of fans “far exceeding those of other games”.
He said his party would continue to push the suggestion as a way of tackling illegal gambling.
“Of course, you have the usual ways, like strengthening law enforcement and intelligence,” he said. “But it seems these methods have already been used for many years, and the problem remains rampant.
“There is a need for new, effective ways to solve it. We just need to strike a balance.”
Hong Kong Jockey Club ‘overreacting’ to potential football betting tax raise
Hong Kong Jockey Club ‘overreacting’ to potential football betting tax raise
The turnover for legal football betting in the city was up by 9.1 per cent to HK$156.9 billion, in the 2022-23 financial year over the previous one. It generated HK$11 billion in income for the club.
Football betting became the most popular gambling activity, beating racing and the Mark Six lottery, last year, which had a combined HK$304.8 billion in turnover in 2022-23, 5.1 per cent higher than the previous year.
In 2022-23, the Jockey Club returned HK$35.9 billion to the community, covering HK$28.6 billion to the government in duty, profits tax and lotteries fund contributions and HK$7.3 billion in approved charity donations.
Last year, the New People’s Party suggested increasing the football betting duty from 50 to 80 per cent of revenue. In a lengthy rebuttal, the club said the proposed raise might result in a deficit in operations, which would “destroy” its business model and jeopardise public interest.
In the neighbouring gambling enclave of Macau, basketball betting is legal.
