HONG KONG — Gambling among the youth, especially sports betting is in the rise in Hong Kong and according to a recent media report, the media is to blame.
The media report is the result of a poll of 1,000 respondents by the Beijing Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong.
The report especially targeted newspapers as the apparent culprit for the rise of sports gambling. The report found out that 25% of the respondents had admitted to placing bets on Euro 2008 football matches. Out of this percentage, 20% were first time gamblers and that 6% said they had borrowed to place bets. In addition, the report added that 96% of respondents said they wagered less than HK$500 or about US$64 dollars on each match.
Newspapers are to blame according to the media report as HK newspapers run betting coverage inside sports sections and thus expose the younger populace to gambling.
“The figures sound small. But is is an alarming signal that more of our young people are gambling on football,” said Benny Yeung, a district councilor for the group that commissioned the survey.
He added that sports pages of newspapers today contain more football betting information, odds and dividends, than stories about the football matches.
“It would be better if the newspapers ran the betting information in a separate supplement on football gambling, like that on horse-racing.”
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