With the eyes of the world set to turn to North America as the FIFA World Cup kicks off next month, authorities across Asia have raised alarms over the threat of black market gambling platforms.
Despite not qualifying for the finals, both Indonesia and Hong Kong are bracing for heightened betting activity on the tournament, as operators seek to capitalise on the event’s fanfare.
Trunoyudo Wisnu Andiko, Head of the Public Information Bureau for the Indonesian National Police’s Public Relations Division, told the press that the country’s authorities must ‘jointly anticipate football gambling’ and not allow fanfare around the tournament to be ‘exploited for illegal activities that could cause losses’.
Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Hong Kong’s Sing Tao news organisation and published by The Standard found that 40% or respondents know someone who engages with Hong Kong’s black market.
Illegal platforms in Hong Kong are believed to offer markets on more than 2,000 football matches each week, according to the research.
Betting on big events
Major sporting events like the World Cup are widely recognised as key drivers of engagement with sports betting platforms, expanding operators’ exposure to a new audience of players.
For this edition of the tournament, FIFA expects over 6 billion people to tune in, which represents almost three-quarters of the global population.
Coupled with the growing popularity of football in Asia, driven by the globalisation of competitions such as the Premier League and Spain’s La Liga, this is a potent mix for heightened gambling activity related to the tournament.
Online gambling remains illegal in both Hong Kong and Indonesia. However, Indonesia’s government estimated that 3.2 million Indonesians engaged in online gambling activities in 2023, with turnover reaching 327 trillion Rupiah ($20.4bn), indicating the scale of the appetite for gambling in the country.
Last week, the country’s police force also arrested over 300 foreign nationals believed to have been involved in the operation of over 75 online gambling platforms.
Though the scale of gambling is much smaller, players in Hong Kong are still estimated to have lost HK$15bn ($1,9bn) via the black market in 2023.
With an expanded 48-team tournament featuring 104 matches, there are even more opportunities for people to engage with sports betting operators as part of their viewing experience.
Prediction market threat
Alongside the traditional black market, authorities in the region are also now having to contend with the growing popularity of prediction markets.
Though many markets in the region have mirrored wider global sentiment and moved to declare them illegal, platforms continue to grow in popularity in Asia as consumers find ways to access the sites via the black market.
There will be no doubt that these emerging sites will see the World Cup as a prime opportunity to gain a further foothold in the Asian market and offer an alternative for football fans looking to wager on the tournament.
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