According to rumors, Japanese policymakers are currently holding internal talks with regard to increasing the country’s sports betting offerings to include favorite soccer and baseball leagues in a move that if made could possibly result in a sports wagering market estimated to be worth $65 million.
People are currently permitted to bet on the J-League under a lottery-style system known as ‘Toto”. This is, however, far different than traditional single-game wagering.
Japan Visitor revealed that the advantage to the Toto system is that people who want to play don’t really have to know anything about the sport.
Japan went on to say that the sports dailies usually offer their picks although randomly picking the winners seems to be just as effective as researching who is going to win.
Japan also has the Japan Basketball League – an eight-team professional basketball association – with golf also popular with the local population. However, it is not immediately clear if those sports are part of the plans being discussed by lawmakers.
Today sports betting is not off-limits in Japan but is defined to horse racing, cycling, motorboat and motorcycling racing.
Experts and industry observers argue that, like in the US, particularly prior to the 2018 Supreme Court ruling on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), Japanese gamblers are already sending millions of dollars a year to offshore sportsbooks. The majority of those wagers are directed to the Nippon Professional League and J-League games.
Japan is home to the world’s third-largest economy, tech-savvy citizens, strong disposable income and already enthusiastic gamblers, which makes for an appealing market for sportsbook operators.
