Inside Asian Gaming

MAR 2019 INSIDE ASIAN GAMING 51 By Makoto Katayama POTENTIAL FOR SPORTS BETTING IN JAPAN The possibility of sports betting being provided in the first phase of Japanese IRs is very low. But is the reason for its exclusion in the IR guidelines contradictory? S uperbowl VXIII took place in Atlanta, Georgia on 3 February in the United States, where the New England Patriots booked their sixth championship win. The score was 13-3 and the end result a decisive win for the -2.5 favored Patriots, but in the third quarter the LA Rams tied the score, which remained 3-3 until partway through the fourth quarter. With a score like that, those who had money riding on the straight win must have been beside themselves. Of course, we are only talking about those who have the means to make such bets – at the many sports books in major Las Vegas IRs or with a UK bookmaker. This type of official sports betting isn’t currently allowed in Japan. However, these days a number of Japanese media outlets show UK bookmaker odds when making predictions for the outcome of sporting contests, such as Japan’s matches during last year’s World Cup or Naomi Osaka’s charge to victory at the Australian Open. There are also many sports newspapers that offer local odds analyses of horses from Japan participating in international races. And the Japanese public loves it. Sports betting seems to be almost ingrained in Japanese society, but it still has a long way to go to catch up with Europe and the US. When the government IR Promotion Committee’s summary was announced in July 2017, the list of permissible casino acts (type and method) clearly stated,