The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC), which already hosts betting on horse racing and football matches, will submit a proposal for gambling on basketball gambling to the government, Chan said as he delivered the 2025 Budget at the Legislative Council on Wednesday.

Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, the chief executive of HKJC, told the Standard last year that 150,000-odd speculators who illegally bet on basketball matches could be brought onto legal channels.

Hong Kong currently imposes a duty on horse racing of between 72.5 – 75 per cent on a progressive basis, and 50 per cent for football matches.

“In recent years, some members of the general public have expressed concerns about the problem of illegal basketball betting in Hong Kong,” Chan said in Cantonese, adding that in order to combat illegal gambling.

According to estimates from the HKJC, the turnover for illegal basketball betting reached HK$70 billion to HK$90 billion last year.