Plans to introduce legal basketball betting in Hong Kong have been put on hold, it was announced on Tuesday, with officials citing concerns over the rise of online prediction markets and their potential to fuel illicit gambling.

In a statement issued on Monday and quoted by local media outlets, Hong Kong’s Home and Youth Affairs Bureau said it had suspended the basketball-betting initiative amid growing unease about emerging prediction market platforms, where users trade contracts based on the outcomes of future events.

Authorities warned that placing sports bets through prediction markets remains illegal in Hong Kong.

“If basketball betting is introduced under the prevailing circumstances, it could lead more people to pay attention to and participate in illegal bets in prediction markets,” a government spokesman said, cited by local broadcaster RTHK.

Framing the move as a precautionary measure, the government said a more comprehensive assessment was needed to understand how prediction market platforms operate and to ensure that public interests are protected.

Speaking to RTHK, the home affairs secretary, Alice Mak Mei-kuen, indicated that the review would extend beyond basketball betting, encompassing the broader implications of prediction markets for gambling behaviour.

The decision comes just seven months after the city’s Legislative Council approved amendments to the Betting Duty Ordinance to legalise basketball wagering. Under the original proposal, the Hong Kong Jockey Club was expected to become the sole licensed operator, with a duty of 50 percent levied on net stake receipts – mirroring the arrangement for football betting.

In a brief response to RTHK, the Jockey Club said it respected the government’s decision and would cooperate with its work on the matter, pending further guidance.

In Hong Kong, the most common forms of legal gambling are lotteries, and horse racing- and football-betting. These are run by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which is the city’s only licensed racing club and bookmaker.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club had estimated that turnover from illegal basketball betting ranged between HKD70 billion (US$8.99 billion) and HK$90 billion in 2024, with around 430,000 residents having wagered on the sport illegally.