Australian land casino in online sports betting venture
News on 8 Dec 2014
News on 8 Dec 2014
BetEasy, the Australian online sports betting company which recently surprised many of its bigger rivals by clinching a A$10 million-a-year partnership deal with the Australian Football League (see previous report), has reportedly agreed to team up in an online gambling venture with James Packer-owned land gambling group Crown Resorts.
Local media have reported that Crown’s new Crown Bet trademark was approved at the beginning of December and is an indication that a deal between the two companies is imminent.
The deal would augment Crown’s increasing presence in online sports betting; the company bought out Betfair’s share of joint venture Betfair Australasia in August (see previous reports).
BetEasy beat TAB, Sportsbet and William Hill Australia in its pitch for the AFL contract, scheduled to begin next year. Its chief executive, Matthew Tripp, is no slouch when it comes to online gambling.
Having bought Sportsbet in 2005 for A$250,000 he built the business and sold it six years later for A$380 million to Paddy Power.
After a three year absence from corporate bookmaking required by the terms of the Paddy Power deal, Tripp and his backers bought Betezy for less than A$10 million in March this year, revitalising it under a new BetEasy brand.
At the time Tripp revealed that Betezy had a A$250 million turnover with 5000 to 6000 regular clients but with a database of 100,000 clients who he hoped to reactivate.
