Gambling industry in Japan - statistics & facts

 Sports race betting 

Sports race betting in Japan is controlled and administered by organizations affiliated with the government. There are four main sports race betting disciplines: horse racing, motorboat racing, bicycle racing, and motorcycle or auto racing. Horse racing (keiba) is the dominant discipline among betting sports in terms of the revenue generated. Horse racing is administered either by the Japan Racing Association (JRA) or the National Association of Racing (NAR). JRA generates the highest betting turnover among gambling sports disciplines. Other than horse racing, motorboat racing is immensely popular and is also the only gambling domain that generates net sales of gambling tickets that surpass one trillion Japanese yen. However, bicycle racing and NAR-administered horse racing sales have picked up significantly in recent years, closing in on the one trillion-yen mark. In general, the total amount wagered at sports race betting events has grown in the past years, especially after the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 Current trends in the gambling industry

  An overarching trend observed even before the COVID-19 pandemic was the ongoing decline in the active pachinko player population, accompanied by shrinking attendance at live venues at sports race betting events. To make up for the decline in visitors to venues, the sports betting industry has embarked on a digitalization strategy, using innovations and technology to provide consumers with flexible and exciting user experiences. This strategy seems to have worked well with sports betting, reflected in increased gambling turnover despite a significant overall decline in attendances at venues. However, this was not the case for the pachinko industry, which has been contracting for many years and was hit particularly hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. The various advantages brought by digitalization, coupled with the restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, seem to be game-changers in Japan’s gambling industry. Whether the pachinko industry will slowly dwindle into obscurity, eclipsed by other forms of gambling, or find a way out of its current downward trend remains to be seen. Regardless, the era of digitalization offers new possibilities and poses new challenges to all entities involved.

This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.