The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has pointed to a significant increase in football betting duty for a 10.5% decline in income to HK$14.8 billion (US$1.90 billion) in the year to 30 June 2024.
It also cited a difficult macro-economic environment, the increasing threat of illegal gambling and rising competition from Macau’s casinos for a 9.3% decline in local racing turnover, despite overall turnover holding steady at HK$304.9 billion (US$39.1 billion).
According to information published earlier this week, horse racing turnover totaled HK$136.1 billion (US$17.5 billion) in FY24, down 3.1% year-on-year, while football betting turnover reached a record high of HK$160.3 billion (US$20.6 billion), up 2.2%. However, due to the need to pay an additional football betting duty of HK$2.4 billion (US$308 million), football betting income dropped by 16.6% to HK$8.1 billion (US$1.04 billion).
Among the challenges facing the domestic racing market, HKJC added, is “a fundamental post-pandemic shift in consumer behavior in favor of new digital experiences and outbound travel.”
For the Mark Six Lottery, turnover grew by 13.3% year-on-year to HK$8.5 billion (US$1.09 billion) on refinements to the jackpot reserve model, enabling HKJC to offer more and higher jackpots, it said.
Despite the overall decline in income, HKJC noted that it had contributed a record HK$40.1 billion (US$5.14 billion) to the community in FY24, comprising a record HK$29.9 billion (US$3.84 billion) in betting duty, profits tax and Lotteries Fund contributions, and HK$10.2 billion (US$1.31 billion) in approved charity donations – also a new record.
Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said, “Looking back over the past year I am once again struck by the enormous resilience of the Club. Having taken everything that the pandemic had to throw at us, we have had to contend with an extremely challenging macro-economic environment as well as significant changes in customer behaviour as they seek out new experiences online or in outbound destinations.
“Despite this, the Club has continued to deliver outstanding racing entertainment and the strongest support for our community.”
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