Responding to calls for legislative intervention to protect the country’s TABs from competition in the market for betting on racing, Betfair says it is dismayed but not surprised by the stance of Australian Racing Board Chairman Bob Bentley. Bentley also serves as Director of the Tatts Group which operates the TABs in Queensland and South Australia.

ARB Chairman Bob Bentley launched a scathing attack last Thursday on the Australian government, corporate bookmakers and Betfair, claiming that the industry faces “the greatest challenge in our lifetime” due to “the rapid growth of new types of Australian wagering providers, corporate bookmakers and betting exchanges”.

Bentley said that the industry was facing an annual loss of AUD$126 million in betting related revenues and called for all gambling operators to pay a product fee to the state jurisdiction where the wagering is taking place.

Bentley said that the current commercial agreements under which the gambling operators pay product fees to the industry were arrived at in tripartite negotiations involving the government, industry and licence holders. He said the racing industry was acknowledged as the content originator that made the wagering business possible and product fees were set that delivered fair returns back to the industry. This is in complete contrast to newer types of wagering providers who refuse to recognise the right of the racing industry to set its own prices for wagering.

Countering Bentley’s claims, Betfair said that since being licensed in Australia, the company had paid 35% of its gross revenues on racing in product fees and taxes to the Tasmanian Racing Industry, and reiterated its stance that it would pay “what the TAB’s pay”.

Betfair highlighted that the TABs pay all product fees and taxes to Queensland and South Australia, but nothing to racing bodies in other jurisdictions. Betfair that Mr Bentley and his NSW counterparts wanted a shift to a turnover-based model as opposed to a percentage of gross revenues as it favours the TABs.

“Mr Bentley’s calls for federal legislation to allow the racing industry to protect the TABs aren’t surprising given his dual roles as Chairman of the ARB and Director of the Tatts Group which operates the TABs in Queensland and South Australia,” said Betfair CEO Andrew Twaits.

Mr Twaits said that the ARB’s use of the Productivity Commission inquiry as a platform to promote an anti-competitive agenda was “highly inappropriate”. Twaits said that the real question racing industry stakeholders should be asking the sport’s administrators is what plans they have to address the massive losses of market share the sport has experienced over the past 25 years.

Twaits added that it should be of no interest to the racing industry whether customers spend their gambling money with the TABs, bookmakers or Betfair, so long as each of those operators agrees to pay the same percentage of that customer’s expenditure to the racing industry as a product fee.

Betfair also quoted the latest official Australian gambling Statistics, compiled by the QLD Treasury, which show that racing’s market share suffered its greatest setback before betting exchanges and corporate bookmakers even existed.

Written for OnlineBingoReviews.com by Joy