Relaying results to an Asian betting organisation isn't a crime, betting on sport isn't either. It only gets sticky when players are bribed to cheat and influence results which clearly happens. However, having the money coming into the league would surely mean better money for players, better organisation and infrastructure - so can't be a bad thing.
Actually relaying betting results over the phone in order for people to place bets before odds get updated is pretty illegal. At least I was told that when I worked for the TAB. Not exactly an unbiased source.
All national league and NYL players get a talk on match-fixing every season, and if I remember the one I attended last year correctly, they bring this exact example up but they said it isn't exactly a crime if the bookie is outside Australasia. It's still something NZF is keen on preventing, but it's tough to do.
I imagine the TAB send someone to every Handa game, but how quickly do they get the results for things like the Central League or NRFL?
The problem with the proposed deal is that it makes that particular type of cheating harder, but it makes the league as a whole even more attractive to bet on, thus raising the risk of match fixing of all kinds. Having said that, even getting a more traditional broadcast deal in Asia would lead to the same result. I just don't buy that it's inherently grubbier to sell the streams to betting sites.
The unfortunate thing is that it is the gambling-heavy cultures in Asia and the Middle East where NZF would have to get the money from for the league to go pro. Sky isn't forking out tens of millions of dollars for the rights anytime soon, so it is going to be online gambling outfits and Asian TV where the initial funding will likely come from, followed by Asian firms paying for advertising space (Huawei Premiership, anyone?). It will never be enough money to insulate the players though, and as we've seen in Italy even earning hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars a year won't be enough to insulate some people. I think that on balance, these are the deals we will have to make to grow the game, even with the risks they pose and how grubby they might make some people feel.