China worried over outflow of betting money

China’s state regulator for lotteries and ancillary sports betting facilities is concerned about the flow of cash out of the country as sports-mad punters use online and mobile facilities to bet on international competitions like the football World Cup currently unfolding in Brazil.

The Bloomberg news agency reported Tuesday on official Chinese figures that indicate after just three weeks of the World Cup that Chinese punters have already legally bet $642 million – twice that wagered on the 2010 World Cup.

And, Bloomberg points out, that is just the tip of the iceberg, because illegal gambling offers are also pulling in the Chinese gamblers, with online and mobile technology making it ever more accessible to the man in the street.

Last month China’s state news agency Xinhua estimated that offshore online gaming accounts for as much as $161 billion in capital flight annually…equal to roughly 2 percent of GDP (see previous report).

So prevalent has Chinese football betting become in this World Cup year, that Macau regulators have attributed it to the unusual 3.7 percent decline in its land-based casino revenues last month – the first such decline in the last five years.

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