There aren’t a lot of places where you can place a bet in China. As a Chinese resident you really have to go looking for a legal avenue, such as the China Sports Lottery. It’s popularity has risen in the past few years. What’s more, it’s now the second largest lottery worldwide! What are the reasons for the growing popularity of the China Sports Lottery?
Only two lotteries in China
Just in the first months of 2018 alone, the China Sports Lottery already made a revenue of 16.5 billion dollars. There are several reasons for the rise of this lottery in China. First, there are only two lotteries in China. The only competitor of the China Sports Lottery is the Welfare Lottery. Second, gambling is legalized in more and more places in China. This is why match-betting has known an incredible growth in the last couple of years.
Predict the outcome of a match in the China Sports Lottery
Participants of the China Sports Lottery can predict the outcome of (international) soccer matches. It’s also possible to levy a wage on the results. More Chinese players have discovered the fun of this type of gambling. The sales have risen 6 percent since 2017 and for the first quarter even 18.3 year-on-year. It means that the lottery has earned 40 billion yuan, which is about 6.2 billion dollars. It’s especially impressive when you compare it to the sales in 2014, which was estimated to be 5.9 billion yuan or 949 million dollars if you convert it.
Special events lead to more revenue
The growth of the China Sports Lottery isn’t about to end yet. Special events can bring it to great heights. The FIFA World Cup in Brazil in 2014 is a good example of that, since the match-betting sales of the lottery had a 384.3 percent rise in comparison with a year before! One of the reasons for the surge is the fear for illegal gambling during the World Cup. The Chinese police has done everything to make sure that the bets take place in a legal lottery, and as a result the popularity of the China Sports Lottery has increased.
Lotteries in China
The position of online lotteries in China will probably change as well. Currently there is a ban on the online lottery ticket sales. It came into effect three years ago, after a big fraud scandal broke loose. It appeared that provincial lottery administrators had misused lottery funds, worth 2.8 billion dollars. Back then the government already said that the ban was temporary. However, the suspension is still not lifted, so the sports lottery in China still has to wait. However, it’s expected that the ban on online lottery ticket sales will be lifted soon.
The hunt for illegal gambling companies
Meanwhile, the Chinese government hunts illegal gambling companies. They even use drones to discover the headquarters of illegal gambling places. A couple of days ago a raid took place in the southern cities of Guangzhou and Jieyang. 150 suspects were put into jail, because they apparently had earned 400 million yuan, about 62,7 million dollars, illegally. In May 2018 another 36 arrests took place, in which more than 65 million yuan, about 10.2 million dollars, was seized. Just a few days before that, two arrests took place in Chongqing. The police seized 350 million yuan, about 55 million in cash. It appears that the criminals were the owners of thirteen websites with more than 100.000 users. The raids didn’t end there, because in March and April another 140 people were caught by the police. The suspects had seized 85 million yuan in funds and 130 million yuan in property, respectively worth 13.4 and 20.2 million dollars!
Gambling and Chinese legislation
Besides the police, Chinese legislators are busy with gambling policies as well. The national government has mentioned the growth and innovation of the Chinese sports lottery in the so-called Five Year Plan. Also interesting to note is that the Chinese government announced a plan to make the province of Hainan a touristic hotspot by offering a sports lottery hub and horse racing over here. In some parts of China it’s possible to participate in horse racing, but betting on a horse is illegal. Hainan will change this and probably develop into a big competitor of the Macao casino industry. This very popular gambling center is worth 33 billion dollars, and a lot of Chinese people go there to take a gamble.
From shady business to legal companies
It has become clear that China is a country full of gamblers, but some of them still play at shady businesses. The rise of the China Sports Lottery might end this. There are certainly some interesting developments, including the establishment of the Sports Lottery Radio. This a new podcast created by a news app called Catjc. It has a mix of commentators who talk about gambling and sports lotteries.
Cooperation with China Vanguard
Chinese companies definitely want to take advantage of the shift in the Chinese gambling law. Some of them are already working on it. For example, the Hainan Sports Lottery has signed an agreement with the China Vanguard You Champion Holdings to receive the very best lottery technologies. It will do the technology and marketing part of the Hainan Sports Lottery Administration Center. China Vanguard is obviously very busy, since it has also has made an agreement with Hainan Huan Yu Assets Investment Company.