Skip to main content

sales prospects fading for Aussie bookmakers?

Sportingbet started the trend by purchasing No1 Betting Shop from Vanuatu and then moving them to Darwin, Paddy Power got into the act by snapping up Sportsbet and IAS, and then Centrebet started preening their feathers in public trying to woo as many prospective buyers as they could. Anecdotal evidence suggests that several other Australian firms are available to buy, as most of the original owners are approaching retirement age. BWin, William Hill, Ladbrokes, 888 and others were mentioned as prospective suitors for Centrebet but it all seems to have gone very quiet lately.

BWin have tied up with Party Gaming which should keep them busy plus neither are shy about attracting Australian customers despite laws against online casino and poker operations; William Hill's online division is 29% owned by Playtech, another company with fingers in many bingo, casino and poker pies which reach Australia either organically or by targetted marketing; Ladbrokes are still involved in the bid for Victoria's retail wagering licence and are burdened by a net debt of over £500m, although they do block Australian clients; 888 is too heavily involved in non-wagering activity not to be affected by the remit of the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001.

Add that to the mess of the latest Federal Election which left Australia with a minority government which will have great difficulty in getting any legislative bills at all through both houses, so getting the restrictions on gaming operations and in-running betting online removed are unlikely to happen in the immediate future, despite frim recommendations from the Productivity Commission. There are too many attention-grabbing independents wanting their five minutes of fame allegedly protecting the social fabric of Australia, but really only trying to justify their existence. And PM Julia Gillard has already pledged to start cutting back on the evil poker machines (slots) in pubs and clubs, so it's hardly a surprise that foreign investors might hold off for a few years before acquiring an Australian firm. The cost of compliance, lobbying and everything that goes with it might be too much in the interim, leaving the likes of Centrebet, BetChoice, BetStar and TopSport gathering dust on the shelf.

Comments

  1. been reading and enjoying your blog for a few months now and wanted to chime in on this.

    absolutely right about the politics, i think the strong AUD is also having a major impact on the deals that looked like happening 6 months ago.

    cheers

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes, definitely. I touched on that in one of the earlier posts - http://www.sportismadeforbetting.com/2010/05/william-hill-closing-in-on-centrebet.html

    Much the same as Aus expats waiting to go home - while the AUD is so strong, it's hardly worth it!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for your comments, but if you're a spammer, you've just wasted your time - it won't get posted.

Popular posts from this blog

Spot-fixing - you will never, ever be able to stop it

According to this report , IPL tournaments so far have been rife with spot-fixing - that is fixing minor elements of the game - runs in a single over, number of wides bowled etc. The curious part of that article is that the Income Tax department are supposed to have found these crimes. What idiot would be stupid enough to put down 'big wad of cash handed to me by bookie' as a source of income? Backhanders for sportsmen, particularly in a celebrity- and cricket-obsessed culture like India are not rare. They could come from anything like turning up to open someone's new business (not a sponsor, but a 'friend of a friend' arrangement), to being a guest at some devoted fan's dinner party etc. The opportunities are always there, and there will always be people trying to become friends with players and their entourage - that is human nature. This form of match-fixing (and it's not really fixing a match, just a minor element of it) is very hard to prove, but also,

It's all gone Pete Tong at Betfair!

The Christmas Hurdle from Leopardstown, a good Grade 2 race during the holiday period. But now it will go into history as the race which brought Betfair down. Over £21m at odds of 29 available on Voler La Vedette in-running - that's a potential liability of over £500m. You might think that's a bit suspicious, something's fishy, especially with the horse starting at a Betfair SP of 2.96. Well, this wasn't a horse being stopped by a jockey either - the bloody horse won! Look at what was matched at 29. Split that in half and multiply by 28 for the actual liability for the layer(s). (Matched amounts always shown as double the backers' stake, never counts the layers' risk). There's no way a Betfair client would have £600m+ in their account. Maybe £20 or even £50m from the massive syndicates who regard(ed) Betfair as safer than any bank, but not £600m. So the error has to be something technical. However, rumour has it, a helpdesk reply (not gospel, natur

lay the field - my favourite racing strategy

Dabbling with laying the field in-running at various prices today, not just one price, but several in the same race. Got several matched in the previous race at Brighton, then this race came along at Nottingham. Such a long straight at Nottingham makes punters often over-react and think the finish line is closer than it actually is. As you can see by the number of bets matched, there was plenty of volatility in this in-play market. It's rare you'll get a complete wipe-out with one horse getting matched at all levels, but it can happen, so don't give yourself too much risk...