Billions of dollars are being wagered illegally in Hong Kong on American basketball and on golf.
Up to HK$9 billion a year is being bet with illegal bookmakers on these sports, which are gaining increasing exposure in the city, gaming analysts who have investigated the trend say. Punters are believed to have developed an intererst in these sports while living overseas.
The Jockey Club has alerted the government to the problem of illegal gambling on sports it does not offer.
'The best solution is for one operator channelling the sports,' club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said. 'It will be beneficial to the community but it is up to the government. We should be able to offer all forms of sports betting to prevent illegal gambling.' He added: 'This was a general conversation and we didn't think it was appropriate to press the issue, but we think it will become more of an issue going forward.'
The club's head of public affairs, June Teng, said it had to combat illegal and offshore bookmakers to keep betting dollars in the community for tax and charitable purposes. Bookmakers were increasingly offering betting on basketball, golf, boxing, tennis and even the Winter Olympics, she said.
People who have assessed the trend estimate Hongkongers are illegally betting HK$4 billion to HK$7 billion a year on basketball and HK$1 billion to HK$2 billion on golf. They believe those figures will rise. While this pales in comparison to the estimated HK$60 billion spent on illegal soccer gambling, it is enough to attract the Jockey Club's attention.