Hong Kong Jockey Club contributes record $5 billion to the community despite mounting challenges
The Hong Kong Jockey Club contributed HK$39.3 billion ($5 billion) to the community in the financial year ended June 30th, 2026 (FY2025/26), the Club announced following its Annual General Meeting on September 2nd, capping a year of record turnover even as it navigated an expanding illegal gambling market and a government decision to pause basketball betting.
The Club achieved record wagering and lottery turnover of HK$331.7 billion ($42.3 billion), up 3.6 percent year on year. That generated HK$29.3 billion ($3.7 billion) in betting duty and profits tax, with the Club accounting for 6.4 percent of total taxes collected by the Inland Revenue Department in the 2025/26 assessment year. The Club also contributed HK$1.4 billion ($179 million) to the Lotteries Fund, while its Charities Trust approved HK$8.6 billion ($1.1 billion) in donations.
Total racing wagering turnover rose 3.6 percent to HK$143.3 billion ($18.3 billion), generating gaming revenue of HK$19.9 billion ($2.5 billion). Commingling was the main driver, with wagering on Hong Kong racing from 26 countries and jurisdictions up 9.0 percent to HK$34.3 billion ($4.4 billion), accounting for 23.9 percent of total racing turnover. Simulcast turnover rose 21.4 percent on the back of additional simulcasts supported by the HKSAR Government, while World Pool turnover climbed 23.0 percent.
Football betting rose 3.6 percent to a record HK$179 billion ($22.8 billion), generating gaming revenue of HK$22.6 billion ($2.9 billion), helped by government support for new bet types, new league competitions and this summer’s global football tournament. Mark Six turnover, in the lottery’s 50th anniversary year, rose 4.2 percent to HK$9.4 billion ($1.2 billion). Total revenue from gaming and non-gaming sources rose 3.1 percent to HK$50.8 billion ($6.5 billion).
The season was headlined by the exploits of joint Horses of the Year Ka Ying Rising and Romantic Warrior. Ka Ying Rising remained unbeaten in 20 starts with five Group 1 wins, including the world’s richest turf race, The Everest in Australia, ending the season as the joint highest-rated horse in the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings. Romantic Warrior also claimed five Group 1 victories to finish as the world’s joint third highest-rated horse and cement his status as the highest prizemoney winner in global racing history. (Romantic Warrior was subsequently retired due to a leg injury, the Club confirmed separately on September 2nd.)
The Club’s racecourses drew a record 401,259 tourist visits during the 2025/26 season, a 105 percent increase on the prior year and a four-fold rise on 2023/24. At Happy Valley, the “Wednesday Is The New Friday” campaign lifted average attendances 15 percent over the season, while the BMW Derby Raceday drew a record crowd of more than 72,000.
The Club confirmed it is postponing the planned October launch of world-class racing at Conghua Racecourse in Guangzhou. Having completed the necessary statutory and procedural requirements, the Club said it recently received a risk assessment from the relevant Mainland departments and, following discussions, agreed to devise appropriate mitigation measures and move the event to a later date.
Conghua, where more than 600 horses are currently trained, has enabled the Club to expand its horse population to over 1,300 and underpins plans for a Guangzhou-Hong Kong equine industry value chain.
The Club’s Charities Trust is now the largest charity donor in Asia and one of the largest in the world, having approved HK$98 billion ($12.5 billion) in donations since Hong Kong’s return to China in 1997. During FY2025/26 it approved HK$8.6 billion ($1.1 billion) for 191 charities and community projects, including a special HK$1.7 billion ($217 million) donation to establish a new public riding school at Tseung Kwan O. The Club and its Trust also donated HK$270 million ($34 million) in response to the Tai Po fire in November.
Chairman Martin Liao pointed to the “ever-expanding threat of illegal gambling,” while noting the Club maintained its support for the community and dependent charities. Chief Executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said the Club delivered outstanding results on and off the track despite “a most challenging and fast-changing environment.”
The Club flagged several pressures: an annual Special Football Betting Duty of HK$2.4 billion ($306 million), and the government’s unexpected pause on granting a regulated basketball betting license, an area where the Club had invested substantially ahead of a planned 2026 launch. It warned that its new sports wagering platform — initially built for basketball betting and now pivoted toward football, together with heavy investment in Conghua, means it will take time for revenue to be realized, and its operating surplus is set to drop further over the next few years. In response, the Club is cutting operating costs and seeking additional non-wagering revenue sources.
On illegal betting, the Club noted two structural disadvantages for Hong Kong: betting duty on racing of up to 75 percent and football taxed at 50 percent of gross margin, eroding the competitiveness of its licensed products; and the fact that Hong Kong offers just two sports for licensed betting compared with up to 60 for illegal operators, including basketball.
At the AGM, Voting Members elected The Honourable Kenneth Fok Kai Kong as a new Steward for a one-year term, filling the vacancy left by Nicholas D Hunsworth, who retired on reaching the age of 70. Lester G Huang, Bernard Charnwut Chan, Anita Fung Yuen Mei and Philip K W Lo were each re-elected to three-year terms. The new Board re-elected Martin Liao as Chairman and Lester G Huang as Deputy Chairman for 2026/27.
https://agbrief.com/news/hong-kong/03/09/2026/hong-kong-jockey-club-contributes-record-5-billion-to-the-community-despite-mounting-challenges/