HKJC’s Basketball Betting Plans Put on Hold After Heavy Pre-Launch Spending

The Hong Kong Jockey Club has invested almost $127.7 million to prepare for basketball betting prior to its postponement by the government. The amount includes the cost of development of the system, infrastructure, and staffing necessary for a system that was set to commence operations in September.

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System Build Out

According to Hong Kong media reports, HK$400 million, or $51.1 million, has already gone into building a dedicated basketball betting system. Another HK$600 million, or $76.6 million, had been earmarked for supporting infrastructure next month.

The system was described as being designed to match the sophistication of the Hong Kong stock exchange’s trading platform. That scale of preparation reflected how far the project had already advanced before the policy shift.

Government Pause

On April 13, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau said it would suspend the implementation of basketball betting. The decision was meant to allow further study of prediction markets, especially those driven by cryptocurrency, and their possible impact on gambling activity.

The timeline for any restart remains unclear. The suspension came after the betting product had already been positioned for a launch this year, making the halt a significant disruption to the plan.

Staffing And Timing

The Jockey Club has also hired almost 180 staff members to facilitate the implementation of the program. Most of the individuals hired were experts in making odds, while half of them were recruited from abroad.

Sources said the operator intends to keep as many of those staff members as possible while it waits for the government review to run its course. If approval is eventually granted, the Jockey Club could still be ready to launch basketball betting within 3 to 6 months, with the earliest estimate at around 3 months.

This could mean there could still be enough time left for preparations prior to the beginning of the NBA season in October.

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Policy Background

Such a plan was preceded by other policy measures in the past. Last February, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po suggested supporting the legalization of basketball betting while consultations with the public came next. 

The Betting Duty (Amendment) Bill 2025 became law in September. Those developments had created the expectation that basketball wagering would move forward under a regulated structure.

Market And Tax Impact

The Jockey Club previously estimated that legal basketball betting could take 30% to 40% of the illegal market. That market is believed to involve nearly HK$100 billion, or $12.8 billion, each year.

Based on that projection, the legal business could generate about HK$30 billion, or $3.8 billion, in turnover and deliver roughly HK$1.5 billion, or $191.6 million, in annual tax revenue for the government.

For the 2024/25 fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, the Jockey Club paid HK$28.8 billion, or $3.7 billion, in betting duties and profits tax. That figure included an extra HK$2.4 billion, or $306.5 million, annual football betting tax introduced in the previous fiscal year.

Awaiting Review

The suspension leaves the Jockey Club’s basketball betting project in a holding pattern despite the scale of work already completed. The next step now depends on the government review of prediction markets and the wider regulatory risks linked to the product.

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Source: Asia Gaming Brief