Sports betting turnover to overtake horse racing, HKJC CEO says

Hong Kong Jockey Club CEO Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said sports-betting turnover will exceed horse racing for the first time this year, with race betting likely to remain flat through 2017. Speaking at the three-day Asia Racing Conference, Engelbrecht-Bresges said the regulatory environment and governance, together with value creation will be critical to the racing industry going forward. “Wagering revenue is the lifeblood of racing. If we want to have a sustainable business model, if we want to make sure our sport is competitive, we have to grow our wagering income.” He said racing was losing market share globally and therefore losing the interest of the wagering industry: “We have to invest heavily in racecourse facilities to meet customer demands; we have to invest in customer services, in marketing programmes and technology in light of the significant increased competition we face. We have to realise we are not only competing in a wagering market, in the end we are in the entertainment market.”