Wagering Flourishes Despite Massive Competition

HK-Crowd.jpg
Published: July 15, 2013 12:27 pm EDT

On Sunday, July 14, Bloomberg's 'Chart of the Day' took a look at how wagering on horse racing in Hong Kong is on course to exceed the net revenues at Las Vegas casinos for the second consecutive year.

The report explains that the Hong Kong Jockey Club handled HK$93.8 billion (US$12 billion) in wagers in the fiscal year so far (up to June 30). The article states that the handle was 19 per cent higher than what Nevada's combined take was in the 11 months through May. The period in question saw the Hong Kong Jockey Club host 83 live race dates.

The report goes on to state that the strong wagering handle seen in Hong Kong comes at a time where nearby Macau (China) has been making its push to become the gaming capital of the world. The last decade has seen Macau supplant the Las Vegas strip as the world's largest gaming area.

Even though residents of Hong Kong can take a short one-hour ferry over to gamble in Macau, wagering on Hong Kong horse racing continues to grow. To boot, the report explains that officials within the Hong Kong gaming industry are now looking to attract a large percentage of the billions of dollars Hong Kong residents wager in Macau back to the domestic racing product.

It was also recently reported that racing organizers in Hong Kong are pointing to the younger demographic as being a big part of the wagering surge.

(With files from bloomberg.com)

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Does Hong Kong have slot machines or casinos located at its racetracks? I think Ontario should copy the Hong Kong model. I want the Ontario horse racing industry to flourish like in Hong Kong, so let's copy their model.

Fans = interest in sport.
Fans = wagering dollars
Fans = generations of more fans
Fans = far more corporate sponsorship

They race far less, have far more to do for the fans, have more information for the bettors.

This is what success is.
They have maidens roaring down the stretch for crowds larger than NA cup crowds...... every single card.

It would be very interesting to know what the takeout rate is in Hong Kong.

This is exactly what I touched on at the transition panel at Western Fair monday past ..... Guess what most of the handle is wagered by app on a phone. People will follow the money FTM and organisations around the world will accomodate them time to change the way we look at the world. We have a product that is wanted because of its uniqueness lets sell it .... already the demographic talked about is wandering offshore wether to Hong Kong or Europe ... we have poker sites operating next door to Ontario instead of trying to close them down or banish them to Ontarians Lets Compete ........ Roy Steele ...

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