Upping the ante

The new dominance of online betting

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  • Published 20230801
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-86-3
  • Extent: 196pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

‘WELCOME TO SPORTSBET.’ This message appears on my phone screen immediately after I set up my first online betting account at home one afternoon. The process is much simpler than I expected. It takes me less than two minutes to download the free Sportsbet mobile app, submit my personal details for instant verification and deposit the first funds into my digital betting wallet. I decline the option of setting a betting limit and proceed to the homepage. 

One of nearly forty online betting companies currently operating in Australia – many of which are based in the Northern Territory for historical tax purposes – Sportsbet is a household name these days, as recognisable as Qantas and Vegemite. Now owned by the UK-based global gambling behemoth Flutter Entertainment, it has grown into Australia’s biggest online betting company since it was established in Darwin in 1993: it now has more than one million Australian customers, a current market value of $12 billion to $14 billion, and nearly a 50 per cent share of the national online betting market. 

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