Resumption of second reading debate on Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025

Hong Kong's Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Mak Mei-kuen, moved the resumption of the second reading of the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025 at a Legislative Council meeting on September 11, 2025¹. The bill would amend the Betting Duty Ordinance (Cap. 108) and its subsidiary legislation to establish a regulatory framework for basketball betting, and would empower the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs to issue licenses to operate basketball betting and set license conditions¹.

The government plans to follow the football betting model and make the Hong Kong Jockey Club the sole operator, Mak said¹. A one-month public consultation on the framework ran from April to May this year, and the vast majority of views received supported setting up the system, she said¹. The government also briefed the Legco Panel on Home Affairs, Culture and Sports on the consultation results and the framework, and the panel supported it¹.

On prevention, Mak said resources would be added to set up a new center focused on counseling and support for young people, in addition to the four counseling centers currently funded¹. She said the government would review the work of the Ping Wo Fund, especially the effectiveness of the four centers¹.

Mak also addressed calls for the Jockey Club to increase funding for sports.

What it means for players

Basketball betting in Hong Kong is not yet legal under a dedicated framework; the bill had reached the resumption of its second reading, not passage¹. If it passes, the Jockey Club is planned as the only licensed operator, following the football betting model¹. The framework is intended to channel betting demand into regulated legal channels¹. Details such as when a license would be issued, what markets would be offered and what license conditions would apply have not been reported¹.

What happens next

The bill returned to the Legislative Council for the resumption of its second reading on September 11, 2025¹. Mak asked lawmakers to support and pass the Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025¹. If passed, the government said it would work with the Jockey Club, the police, the Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee, the Betting and Lotteries Commission and other stakeholders to implement the regulatory system¹. No date for a vote has been reported¹.

For background on how the territory regulates betting, see Can I gamble in Hong Kong? and How to open a Jockey Club betting account. For the mechanics of the sport, see Basketball betting explained, and for the wider regional picture, Recent and pending gambling law changes in Asia.