Inside Asian Gaming

IAG JAPAN MAR 2019 54 JAPAN However, the reality is that sports betting is already happening in Japan under the moniker “toto” for the results of soccer matches. This certainly falls into the category of “betting on competitions executed by other parties” and is extremely popular not only for J-League matches but also saw wide sales during the 2018 World Cup. Furthermore, during Japan’s off-season, the “Overseas toto” allows customers to bet on Germany’s Bundesliga and England’s Premier League as well. Does that mean even matches held outside of Japan are considered as matches “for which fairness can be ensured”? If that’s the case, then why has all sports betting been removed from the types of gambling that will be allowed in Japanese casinos? First of all, toto is interpreted not as gambling, but as a “prediction lot” sold based on the “Law pertaining to implementation of sports promotion voting (lottery)”. The revenue is used for sports promotion, so it is characterized differently than the 30% GGR that casino operators will pay as tax to the national treasury. The other and perhaps most important point is that the payout rate for toto in its current state is low at only around 50%. It couldn’t possibly stand up to a potential sports book in Japan that would have a 90% payout. From the perspective of the desire to contribute to our nation’s sports promotion while also enjoying the pastime of sports betting, the ideal plan would be for toto to compromise by increasing the payout as well as the sports offered, so that someday it can coexist with a sportsbook system. では、なぜ早い段階から、スポーツベッティング全体が日本版カジノ で楽しめる賭け事から外されたのか？ まず、totoは「スポーツ振興投票の実施等に関する法律」に基づいて 発売される〝予想くじ〟であり、ギャンブルではない、という解釈がある。 そして、その収益はスポーツの振興のために使われるので、カジノ事業 者が粗収益（ＧＧＲ）の30％を納める国庫納付金とは性格が異なる。 もう一つ、というより最大のポイントは、現行のtotoのペイアウト率（ 払戻し率）が50％前後と低いことだ。約90％が払戻しに充てられるス ポーツブックが国内に設置されれば、到底勝負にならない。スポーツ ベッティングを楽しみながら、わが国のスポーツ振興にも少しは貢献し たい立場からすれば、totoが歩み寄って払戻し率を上げてその対象種 目も増やし、いずれはスポーツブックと共存していく、というのが理想 なのだが、果たして…