Digital growth takes HK Jockey Club to new heights
Gambling monopoly's £600m in online football revenues make it comparable in scale to European giants
Hong Kong’s gambling monopoly generated online football revenues in excess of £600m for the 12 months ended June 2015, confirming its position as one of the largest online operators in the world, eGaming Review understands.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) reported total revenues of HK$31.23bn (£2.64bn) in its annual financial results last week. And although it does not separate online from land-based revenues, sources close to the operator told eGR that rapid digital growth means 65% of football revenues now come from the online and mobile channels.
That would represent around £615m in digital football revenues for the year ended 30 June 2015, according to the report which shows that 35.8% of total revenues come from football.
While the HK$16.5bn (£1.4bn) in horse racing revenues are predominantly land-based, even a 30% digital contribution would make the HKJC’s online arm a £1bn-a-year online operator.
The figures put the HKJC in the same league as bet365, which reported £1.28bn in annual revenues last year and ahead of the post-merged online revenues of Ladbrokes Coral, Paddy Power Betfair and GVC-bwin.party.
The HKJC, which made charitable donations of HK$3.87bn (£327m) over the past financial year, has looked to expand its online offer recently in the face of growing competition from online operators elsewhere in Asia.
While the HKJC maintains a monopoly on all forms of gambling in Hong Kong, it estimated that HK$100bn (£8.5bn) is illegally wagered online each year.
In an attempt to stem the flow of money out of the city, the Club stressed in its annual report that its digital product “offers increasing opportunities for customers to enjoy the betting and racing experience”, and in January launched a new dedicated mobile football platform to extend its online reach.