Betting on World Cup propels Jockey Club to a record year

Fuelled by the World Cup, soccer betting turnover surged almost 17 per cent in the year to the end of June, contributing to a record year for the Jockey Club, while its traditional revenue sources, horse racing and the Mark Six lottery, both fell more than 4 per cent.

Turnover from soccer gambling rose to $31.27 billion from $26.73 billion in the previous year, figures released by the club yesterday showed. By contrast, racing revenue dropped to $60.05 billion from $62.66 billion in 2004-05, while the Mark Six drew in $6.29 billion, down from $6.59 billion.

The club said the World Cup had been 'one of the major contributing factors' to the boost in soccer betting. It offset the fall in other revenue and helped total turnover edge up 1.75 per cent to a record $98.89 billion. Soccer betting also generated gross profits of $5.12 billion, of which half went to betting duty.

Club chief executive Lawrence Wong Chi-kong acknowledged, however, that illegal gambling was still siphoning money.

'The widespread police raids on illegal gambling activities during the World Cup illustrated that despite the best efforts of all concerned, fighting illegal gambling remains an uphill battle that is not likely to be resolved quickly or easily,' he said.

The club said that despite more competitive odds and lower-margin bets being offered to strengthen the fight against illegal bookmakers, its overall gross profit margin rose from 15 to 16 per cent.