Sunbets losses mount

It appears from a report in the satirical publication Private Eye that all is not well with the online bookmaking venture Sunbets, a jv between Aussie gambling group Tabcorp and Britain’s News UK in the Rupert Murdock stable of media investments.

The publication reports friction between the Australian and British management teams, and quotes from a recent Tabcorp trading update which escalated the expected losses this year to A$46 million…this on the threshold of the venture’s first anniversary since its launch to much fanfare last year, when News UK chief executive Rebekah Brooks heralded the operation as an online betting game changer.

Sunbets represents, at A$20 million, the largest international investment yet made by Tabcorp; whilst the Aussie betting group handles the actual bookmaking side, News UK’s responsibilities are centred on marketing and publicising the enterprise through its powerful media machine and massive readership.

And, it appears, it has not lived up to Australian expectations in this regard, as detailed in the Private Eye article here: http://www.private-eye.co.uk/issue-1449/street-of-shame.

The publication notes that the managing director of Sunbets left in February this year, and that the company announced in June that it planned to “reset the business, including its leadership” – a process that could involve redundancies and the shuttering of its dedicated customer contact centre.

With partnership friction and mounting losses, insiders at News UK have reportedly speculated on how long the situation will be allowed to continue from a Tabcorp perspective.

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