Public consultation shows majority support for regulating basketball betting

Hong Kong's Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Mak Mei-kuen, told a Legislative Council bills committee on July 11, 2025 that the government's public consultation, held during April and May 2025, showed that regulating basketball betting was supported by most respondents¹. She was opening the committee's discussion of the Gambling Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025¹.

The bill follows the model of existing horse racing and football betting. It would empower the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs to issue basketball betting licenses and set license conditions, and would levy a basketball betting duty of 50 percent of net stake receipts from the operator, using the same calculation and collection method as the current football betting duty¹. It would also amend the functions of the Betting and Lotteries Commission to cover basketball betting license matters¹.

If the bill passes, the government will issue a single basketball betting license to the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Mak said this arrangement "can avoid stimulating demand for gambling through competition between operators"¹. She also restated the government's long-standing position that its policy is not to encourage gambling, and that legal gambling channels exist only to answer public demand for certain gambling activities so that people do not turn to illegal operators¹.

On prevention, Mak said resources would be increased to set up a new center focused on counseling and support services for young people, in addition to the four counseling centers currently funded, and that the Ping Wo Fund would provide counseling, treatment, education and publicity to raise awareness of the harms of gambling addiction¹. She said the proportion of young people who gamble has stayed at a low level for many years¹.

Mak said those provisions related to guaranteed amounts at the time and lapsed after 2016, and that removing them does not involve a policy change¹. Separately, she said the Jockey Club's plan to increase the number of overseas horse races it broadcasts falls under the terms of the existing horse racing betting license and does not require legislative amendment, so it is not part of the bill's scrutiny¹.

What it means for players

Basketball betting in Hong Kong is not yet regulated under this bill; the change depends on the bill passing. If it does, betting on basketball would run through a single licensed operator, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, rather than through the illegal bookmakers the government says it wants to squeeze out¹. The duty rate of 50 percent of net stake receipts mirrors football betting, which shapes what a licensed operator can offer¹. Nothing in the announcement sets out odds, markets or limits for a future basketball product, and no launch date has been reported¹. Horse racing and football betting arrangements are unchanged by the bill, apart from the repeal of the lapsed offshore horse racing duty provisions¹.

What happens next

The bill is before the Legco Bills Committee, which began scrutinizing it on July 11, 2025¹. Mak asked committee members to support the bill so the regulatory regime can be implemented early¹. No date for the resumption of the second reading debate or for passage has been reported¹.

For background on how betting is regulated across the region, see Is Sports Betting Legal in Asia? and Gambling Laws in Asia: What Is Legal in 12 Jurisdictions. For how the sport's markets work, see Basketball Betting Explained: Point Spreads, Totals and Quarter Bets and Sports Betting in Asia: How It Works, Bet Types, Odds and Where It Is Legal in 12 Jurisdictions. For the local picture, see Can I Gamble in Hong Kong?.