Australian In-Play Betting – Bookmakers News

Australia announces a new crackdown on in-play betting

Bookmaker News

In the United Kingdom, we take for granted that in-play betting on a wide variety of sports and events forms an essential part of the gambling experience. Sure, it has its critics (and winners and losers) but the choice is there to participate.

However, if you live on the other side of the world, you still aren’t allowed to bet on a race or match once it has begun.

Tabcorp chief executive David Attenborough is not as well loved as his avuncular nature-loving namesake as he has said that overseas bookmakers only have themselves to blame after the federal government strengthened a ban on online in-play betting on sports and banned credit betting in a move likely to erode the bookies’ growing market share.

Some of the world’s biggest gambling operators, many headquartered in the UK, have openly flouted an existing government ban on in-play betting by exploiting a loophole to offer instant online wagers on live sporting events. Several international firms have also been accused of surreptitiously offering credit to online customers which the Australian government hopes to ban by working with individual states and territories.

The practice is banned in Australia over the internet but allowed via telephone calls or in a high street bookmakers. However, William Hill has been controversially offering the service to its customers via its “click-to-call” function, where a voice call is made online.

Tabcorp, which has seen its dominant position in Australia’s $20 billion-plus betting market come under attack from foreign operators including William Hill and Sportsbet, claims its rivals have pushed vague boundaries too far. But does this smack of hypocrisy?

Tabcorp signed a deal with News UK last year to launch a new online wagering and gaming business in the UK and Irish markets. The business, to be known as Sun Bets, will be shooting itself in the foot if it doesn’t offer in-play betting so hiding behind Australia’s more stringent gambling laws at home seems a bit cheeky as it will be challenging the likes of William Hill and Sportsbet, who are owned by Paddy Power, in the UK and Irish markets.

Sportsbet’s chief executive, Cormac Barry, has lashed out as what he describes as a short-sighted decision by the government, which can only benefit rivals Tabcorp and the Tatts Group.

The decision of the Australia government, overall, is a real kick in the teeth for international bookmakers who have been furiously lobbying the government to relax its ban on in-play, claiming punters are already widely using the service through illicit overseas bookmakers. Major sports organisations, including Cricket Australia and the AFL, have also been pressing for in-play to get the green light, saying it would improve integrity in the sports betting market so this story is far from over.