In Hong Kong, the most common types of lawful gambling are lotteries, horse racing and football betting. They are run by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), which is the only racing club and legal bookmaker in Hong Kong.
The government this year announced it would now explore legalising basketball betting, modelled on the existing legal framework for football betting, which was successfully introduced more than two decades ago, in 2003.
In the first half of 2025, the government proposed to establish a regulatory framework for basketball betting, introducing the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025 (the “Bill”).
In addition, the Bill proposes to increase the maximum number of simulcast races on local and non-local race days.
By strengthening the regulatory framework for authorised gambling, these proposals seek to combat illegal betting locally.
Proposed regulatory framework for basketball betting
The government proposes to establish a regulatory framework for basketball betting modelled on the current framework for football betting by amending the Betting Duty Ordinance (Cap. 108) and Betting Duty Regulations (Cap. 108A).
Important components include the basketball betting duty, licensing authority and safeguards.
Under this framework:
- Basketball betting duty will be set at 50% of the net stake receipts, aligning with the rate currently applied to football betting.
- The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs will be authorised to issue a single basketball betting license to HKJC. Functions of the Betting and Lotteries Commission will be expanded to cover matters relating to basketball betting, in addition to its existing function to regulate existing lawful betting activities, such as horse racing and football betting.
- Major licensing conditions also mirror those relating to football betting. For example, credit betting is prohibited, and bets on basketball matches involving Hong Kong teams and/or matches that take places in Hong Kong are not allowed.
According to the government, this legislative proposal gained strong local support during public consultation organised by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau from April to May 2025.
Proposal on simulcast races
This concerns increasing the maximum number of non-local horse races simulcast on local and non-local race days.
In terms of local race days, it seeks to increase the number of non-local horse races simulcast from 25 to 40 races during the 2025/26 racing season, and subsequently to 55 races for the 2026/27 racing season.
Simulcasts on non-local race days would increase from 37 to 53 days in the 2025/26 racing season, and subsequently to 70 days in the 2026/27 racing season.
This proposal responds to rising public demand for betting on high-profile international horse races and likewise strives to divert illegal betting into regulated channels.
The reforms are projected to bring about more betting duty revenue, with basketball betting predicted to generate duty of HK$1.5 billion annually, and simulcast races expected to generate additional betting duty of HK$1.82 billion from 2025/26 to 2028/29 racing seasons.
Legislative timeframe and betting on other sports?
The Bill was gazetted on 20 June 2025 and passed for first reading on 2 July 2025. On 11 July 2025, the Legislative Council Bills Committee convened a first meeting to discuss it.
Some legislators mentioned the possibility of extending the sports betting regime to other sports in addition to football and basketball. However, according to the government, there is no intention to expand the regime beyond basketball as of now.
Further meetings will be convened for the Bills Committee to consider and address public enquiries and concerns. To date, no definite timeline has been set out for completion of the legislative process.
Nonetheless, reference may be made to the timeframe of football betting legalisation, which took under eight months to complete from announcing legislative intent to the public.
Outlook
While the exact legislative timeframe remains uncertain, it is expected that once passed, the regime for basketball betting will be akin to that for football betting.
As the HKJC is expected to remain as the only racing club and betting operator in Hong Kong in years to come, the legislation for basketball betting may also attract bets from overseas punters or institutional bookmakers, which will bring in more betting revenues and further promote Hong Kong as a racing and sport betting jurisdiction.
It is anticipated that more sports will eventually be considered for legalised betting in the future, which may develop Hong Kong as a sport betting hub to compete for gaming revenue against other jurisdictions.
