Unlawful wagering expanding at almost twice the rate of its legal counterpart, with the sport’s Citibet headache compounding in recent years
by Sam Agarson (South China Morning Post)
The illegal betting market continues to grow at almost twice the rate of legal gambling, with unlawful websites accounting for almost two-thirds of online wagering options.
Unlawful behemoth Citibet, an online exchange experts have previously claimed turns over north of US$50 billion a year, has rebounded in recent times after authorities had some success in curbing its presence.
“The Hong Kong Jockey Club last month had one racing meeting that turned over about US$250 million. Citibet were not far behind that in terms of the scale of their turnover on Hong Kong racing,” Tom Chignell, the Jockey Club’s executive manager of racing integrity and betting analysis, said on Friday’s final day of the Asian Racing Conference in Melbourne.
“Year on year growth, it was up about 9 per cent last year on Hong Kong racing.
While Hong Kong racing is a big product of Citibet, it’s [also] Australia, it’s all the major racing jurisdictions across the world, and whilst law enforcement and other Australian government agencies really did take on the illegal market and certainly had success, it’s rebounded.
“In 2019, Citibet turnover on Australian racing really dipped. It’s since doubled, and while it’s not as big as the Hong Kong turnover, it provides a serious integrity threat still.”
Jockey Club executive director of racing Andrew Harding said the Asian Racing Federation Council on Anti-Illegal Betting & Related Financial Crime continues to work on educating governments about how restrictions on legal operators can drive punters to unlawful betting websites.
“The council did a study where they scraped data from 50 global betting sites, and it’s their assessment the growth in illegal gambling is outstripping the growth in the legal market,” he said.
“The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime puts the total illegal market annually at US$1.7 trillion. That’s not just racing – that’s everything from US college football to British darts – but it gives us perspective.
