SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Whilst Australia may have bowed out in the group stage of the World Cup, they far exceeded expectations with results which included a narrow 3-2 loss against eventual third place finishers the Netherlands.
Back home Australian football fans did their bit by exceeding bookmakers’ expectations in terms of the collective amount they placed in bets. Throughout the month long competiton punters wagered $287m (£156m) with each of the five largest betting operators reporting growth from tournaments in the past.
The largest Australian operator, Tabcorp, had anticipated a turnover of around $120m (£65m) which is equivalent to their expectations for a full Australian Football League (AFL) season. Whilst they are yet to announce their actual turnover, a spokesperson on their behalf stated that this information would be included within its full-year financial results announcement on August 7th.
It is assumed that the firm surpassed their turnover aims for the World Cup in which they were the exclusive betting sponsor during broadcasts on SBS. Additionally the operator released a purely World Cup oriented site for the tournament.
The online betting exchange, Betfair, took in $52m (£28m) in bets from Australian customers whilst William Hill’s Australian arm, which includes Sportingbet, Centrebet and Tom Waterhouse’s online venture took $24m (£13m).
Paddy Power owned Sportsbet meanwhile performed very well and reported the highest turnover of online-only bookmakers, taking in bets to the tune of $74m (£40m). Tatts Group meanwhile trailed the pack with its punters wagering a total of $17m (£9m).
The total worldwide amount placed by punters with Betfair was $4.15bn (£2.26bn). It is likely the total amount placed in Australia would have been higher if it was not for the fact in-play betting is currently illegal in the country. A Betfair spokesperson said; “The bulk of the (global) volume has come from countries whe online in-play betting is allowed and customers can continue to trade their original bets during play.”
