Sportsbet.com.au

Sportsbet.com.au
Subsidiary
Industry Bookmaking
Founded May 1993
Headquarters Melbourne, Australia
Key people
 Barni Evans, Sportsbet CEO
Breon Corcoran, CEO
Owner Paddy Power Betfair
Website sportsbet.com.au

Sportsbet.com.au, also known as Sportsbet, is an Australian online bookmaker, and as of October 2012, was Australia's biggest corporate bookmaker.[1] Sportsbet was established in May 1993, and was Australia's first licensed bookmaker.[2] The company was acquired by Paddy Power in December 2010, and since 2 February 2016, it has been owned by Paddy Power Betfair.[3][4]

History

In 2005, Matthew Tripp bought Sportsbet, a small bookmaker based in Darwin, Australia,[5] for A$250,000. He expanded it from 8 employees to 250. This coincided with a rise in popularity for phone and online gambling in Australia, at a time when face toface bookmakers were losing customers.

Sportsbet widened its customer base beyond traditional gamblers, striking exclusive advertising deals with Seven and Ten networks.[6] Its expansion was helped by a ruling by the High Court in 2008, that allowed the firm and others based in the Northern Territory to advertise in the more populous eastern states of Australia.[3]

Takeover

In May 2009, 51% of Sportsbet.com.au was acquired by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power in a deal estimated to be worth A$200 million. The company would keep the name Sportsbet, and continue to be run as a separate entity while offering additional services.[3] The takeover allowed Sportsbet.com.au to acquire rival betting company International All Sports Limited, for 27.2 million euros.[7]

In February 2011, Paddy Power took full ownership of Sportsbet.com.au, paying A$132.6 million for the remaining 39.2% share, which valued the entire company at A$338 million.[8][9]

Post takeover

The company admitted to the Australian Parliament in 2011 that it paid around A$3-4 million per year in commissions to companies and individuals that referred gamblers to the company; which may have been in breach of legislation that prohibited secret commissions.[10]

In November 2012, it lost a legal case over whether the legality of installing betting terminals in pubs and clubs in the state of Victoria; the appeals court found that Tabcorp had the exclusive rights in the state.[11][12] In February 2013, the company was involved in a legal dispute with the Victorian Government over whether it had breached state law prohibiting bonuses for joining a betting site, given that they were based in the Northern Territory where the Victorian law may not apply.[13]

Management

Sportsbet.com.au's chairman is Patrick Kennedy (Paddy Power CEO) since April 2013, replacing Matt Tripp who was previously CEO of Sportsbet from 2005 to 2011. Its current CEO is Barni Evans. Once part of the team that set up paddypower.com in 2000, he joined Sportsbet.com.au in 2009 as commercial director. He became CEO in February 2011, after Paddy Power completed their acquisition of the company.

References

  1. ↑ Joe Schneider and Ben Sharples (12 October 2012). "Tabcorp, Victoria State Win Appeal to Ban Online Bar Bets". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  2. ↑ "About Sportsbet". help.sportsbet.com.au. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  3. 1 2 3 Eddy, Andrew (15 May 2009). "Irish giant snaps up Sportsbet". The Age (Australia). Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  4. ↑ @globalgallop, Shane Anderson -. "Huge Sportsbet result for Paddy Power". RACING.COM. Retrieved 2017-06-21.
  5. ↑ Murphy, Chris (23 May 1993). "A stab at the TAB". The Sun Herald. p. 11.
  6. ↑ Speedy, Blair (15 January 2011). "Tripp's big punt on Sportsbet pays off". The Australian.
  7. ↑ "Paddy Power's Sportsbet buys IAS". RTÉ (Ireland). 3 June 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  8. ↑ "Paddy Power to buy out Sportsbet". BBC. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  9. ↑ Gluyas, Richard (26 December 2010). "Luck of the Irish for Sportsbet founder as bookmaker buys up". The Australian.
  10. ↑ Willingham, Richard (12 August 2011). "Xenophon slams Sportsbet commissions". The Age (Australia). Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  11. ↑ White, Andrew (14 November 2012). "Tabcorp wins as Sportsbet drops legal action". The Australian.
  12. ↑ Hawthorne, Mark (27 October 2011). "Tabcorp in bet against Irish luck". The Age (Australia).
  13. ↑ Ayre, Calvin (22 February 2013). "Sportsbet's extraterritorial battle with Victoria over inducement law". CalvinAyre.com.
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