Title: Solution for Hong Kong foot ball (Assignment of Special topics in journalism I (Sport Journalism & PR), 21-10-2024)

“As long as there is no gambling, I do not see a very solid solution of Hong Kong football.” Said Philip Chan, the Hong Kong footballer in 2024, during a sharing section with HKU students, about the commercial model of Hong Kong football.

Philip is not encouraging students to gamble. It’s just that Hong Kong football has been unable to break even for years, and he sees legalizing gambling as a possible solution. “Right now, our income, all the money comes in from independent investors, who we called bosses. Say a budget of ten million a year for a football team, after one season they don’t even get I would say 20% or 10% of them back. So, it’s not quite an investment.”

Philip’s claim can be verified by the owner of football club Kitchee, Ken Ng Kin’s response to SCMP earlier this year. “We hope we make some money, but obviously not much comes back. I’ve been doing this since 2003, so it’s a lot of years and a lot of money.”

Being able to break even on its budget is a feature of the commercialization of the industry, and also a major goal of the Hong Kong Government for Hong Kong football. Fok Kai Shan, the current chairman of The Football Association of Hong Kong, China, has published an article on HK01, emphasizing the goal of “commercialization and professionalization of Hong Kong football.

“It is a form of entertainment to attract more attention to football.” Philip said. “Anywhere in the world, you’re allowed to gamble on football, which means it will be shown on TV, when it is shown on TV, there is more sponsors, more attention, and more audience, the whole thing will be different.”

Hong Kong Jockey Club had a football gambling program since 2003. Currently, the events available to bet on include most of the events worldwide (e.g. Premier League). However, the Hong Kong Premier League is not included. According to the Hong Kong Jockey Club, in the 2023/2024 financial year, football bets were 160 billion in total, raised 2.2%. Reflecting the increasing demand and potential of football gambling.

So, is gambling the panacea of Hong Kong football’s commercialization?

“Chinese Super League and Japan Football League cannot gamble; how come they can do it?” Asked Cheng Ho Kwan, a scholar from HKBU, who holds the opposite view from Philip. “There are a lot of factors, whether the audience is supportive enough, whether the match is attractive enough.”

The average number of audience members per match in the 2023-2024 season was 577, continuing the decline from the highest point 1048, from the 2014-2015 season, which is the first season of Hong Kong Premier League. Looking deeper into the data, the 2023-2024 season has created a new lowest record in “Highest single-match attendance of the season” or “Lowest single-match attendance of the season”, 2310 and 79 people.

“Suppose we have independent investors and gambling as financial resources, if there is no audience, is this a healthy commercial model?” Cheng Added.

Thoughts:

Often we can see complains about athletes’ low income, and about how government should raise the investment in sports and athletes. However, is a sport industry that solely relies on government subsidies and investments sustainable?