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 Flutter Entertainment plc.[3][4]

Sportsbet.com.au
Subsidiary
IndustryBookmaking
FoundedMay 1993
HeadquartersMelbourne, Australia
Key people
Barni Evans, Sportsbet CEO
Breon Corcoran, CEO
OwnerFlutter Entertainment
Websitesportsbet.com.au

Flutter Entertainment plc (formerly Paddy Power Betfair plc) is a bookmaking business created by the merger of Paddy Power and Betfair. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It operates under various brands including Betfair, Paddy Power, Sportsbet, TVG and FanDuel.[5][6]

History

In 2005, Matthew Tripp bought Sportsbet, a small bookmaker based in Darwin, Australia, 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 to face bookmakers were losing customers.[7]

Sportsbet widened its customer base beyond traditional gamblers, striking exclusive advertising deals with networks Seven and Ten.[8] 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.[9]

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.[10][11]

Paddy Power and British rival Betfair agreed terms for a merger on 8 September 2015. The business is owned 52% by the former Paddy Power shareholders and 48% by the former Betfair shareholders.[12] The merger was completed on 2 February 2016.[13] On 5 April 2016, it was announced that 650 jobs in United Kingdom and Ireland would be lost at the company.[14]

On 6 March 2019, Paddy Power Bet Fair announced that it would rebrand as Flutter Entertainment plc, pending shareholder approval at the company’s annual general meeting in May. Flutter was originally the name of a betting exchange acquired by Betfair in December 2001. The company stated that the rebrand, which took place on 28 May 2019, would not affect the company’s individual customer facing gaming brands.[15]

Post takeover

The company admitted to the Australian Parliament in August 2011, that it paid around A$3 to four 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.[16] In November 2012, it lost a legal case over 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.[17][18]

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.[19]

Management

Sportsbet.com.au's chairman is Patrick Kennedy 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 2016, after Cormac Barry stepped down.

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 21 June 2017.
  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 21 June 2017.
  5. Kate Palmer (4 May 2016). "Paddy Power's Betfair merger pays off with £11m profit boost". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  6. "Online casino NZ". Sunday, March 29, 2020
  7. Murphy, Chris (23 May 1993). "A stab at the TAB". The Sun Herald. p. 11.
  8. Speedy, Blair (15 January 2011). "Tripp's big punt on Sportsbet pays off". The Australian.
  9. "Paddy Power's Sportsbet buys IAS". RTÉ (Ireland). 3 June 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  10. "Paddy Power to buy out Sportsbet". BBC. 23 December 2010. Retrieved 10 April 2013.
  11. Gluyas, Richard (26 December 2010). "Luck of the Irish for Sportsbet founder as bookmaker buys up". The Australian.
  12. "Paddy Power and Betfair merger agreed". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  13. Michael Cogley (2 February 2016). "Paddy Power Betfair begins trading after €8bn merger is completed". Irish Independent. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  14. Bill Wilson (5 April 2016). "Paddy Power Betfair to cut 650 jobs in UK and Ireland". BBC News Online. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  15. Barber, Bill. "Paddy Power Betfair group to change name to Flutter Entertainment | Horse Racing News | Racing Post". www.racingpost.com. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  16. Willingham, Richard (12 August 2011). "Xenophon slams Sportsbet commissions". The Age (Australia). Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  17. White, Andrew (14 November 2012). "Tabcorp wins as Sportsbet drops legal action". The Australian.
  18. Hawthorne, Mark (27 October 2011). "Tabcorp in bet against Irish luck". The Age (Australia).
  19. Ayre, Calvin (22 February 2013). "Sportsbet's extraterritorial battle with Victoria over inducement law". CalvinAyre.com.
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