Tit for tatt in Australian gambling

Last week’s criticism of the online gambling sector by Tabcorp’s chief executive David Attenborough, who said the gambling advertising crackdown by the Australian authorities was due to the inability of operators to regulate themselves, and that online rivals enjoyed the benefit of big adspend courtesy of low tax demands in their licensing jurisdiction, has triggered a stinging response from CrownBet CEO Matt Tripp.

In an interview with the Australian Financial Review, Tripp said that he would gladly exchange places with Tabcorp and pay the tax the betting company was required to contribute, pointing to the extensive retail network across the nation that Tabcorp operates and the exclusive Sky Channel broadcast rights on all forms of racing which it enjoys.

And Tripp revealed that his company has complained about the broadcast rights to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

“They have a retail network of more than 2,000 outlets in places like shopping centres, pubs and clubs and at racetracks, which gives their brand plenty of exposure, and that is an exclusive arrangement they get for paying taxes,” said Tripp.

“They also have Sky Channel, which has virtually all of racing wrapped up. We’ve written to the ACCC to look at that too, because it looks like a virtual monopoly to me.”

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