News Corp, the media giant owned by Rupert Murdoch, is entering the Australian sports betting market through a joint venture with investment company Tekkorp Capital and industry veteran Matt Tripp, one of Australia’s most successful bookmakers.
Tekkorp CEO Matt Davey and President Robin Chhabra will be on the board of the new venture.
“The Australian online sports betting market has been booming but is ripe for innovation and competition,” Chhabra said, according to Asia Gaming Brief. “This consortium has the mix of skills, experience, and capital to become a significant player.”
Davey said there are opportunities to improve the product range in Australian sports betting. “One example is if you’re a sports bettor, you log on to whatever sports app you have, and typically, customers in the more mature markets like the U.K. and Australia have four or five different apps,” he said.
“You look for the sport that interests you, but you’re flooded with a sea of other sports, there are thousands and thousands of events that you can bet on at any particular point in time. How do we surface the events that you’re interested in with the bet types that you’re interested in? How do we do that cleanly with the least amount of friction? There’s a lot of innovation yet to be brought into the market around that.”
BetMakers Technology Group has been selected as the new venture’s exclusive platform and services provider. The company has predicted the 10-year agreement can generate as much as $300 million over the initial period.
“We feel this partnership cements the company as a leading provider of B2B platforms and software to the wagering industry, BetMakers CEO Todd Buckingham told AGB. “This deal will allow the company to demonstrate that we are a viable pathway for large scale operators that want to enter markets quickly and efficiently, allowing them to focus their resources into marketing strategies.”
Tekkorp said it will be “investing significantly” in the new online brand, without giving details, according to AGB.
