Industry Bookmaking CEO Cormac Barry (Mar 2011–) Founded 1993 | Website sportsbet.com.au Headquarters Melbourne, Australia Parent organization Paddy Power Betfair | |
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Type Subsidiary of Paddy Power Key people Patrick Kennedy, Chairman
Cormac Barry, CEO Profiles | ||
Sportsbet.com.au, also known as Sportsbet, is an Australian online bookmaker, and as of 2012 was Australia's biggest corporate bookmaker. Sportsbet was established in 1993 and was Australia's first licensed bookmaker. Since 2009 it has been owned by Irish company Paddy Power, but it continues to be run as a separate entity.
Contents
History
In 2005, Matthew Tripp bought Sportsbet, a small bookmaker based in Darwin, Australia, for A$ 250,000. He expanded it from 8 employees to 250. This coincided with a rise in popularity for phone and online gambling in Australia at a time when face-to-face bookmakers were losing customers. Sportsbet widened its customer base beyond traditional gamblers, striking exclusive advertising deals with Seven and Ten networks. Its expansion was helped by a 2008 High Court ruling that allowed the firm and others based in the Northern Territory to advertise in the more populous eastern states of Australia.
Takeover
In May 2009 51% of Sportsbet.com.au was acquired by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, in a deal estimated to be worth A$ 200 million. The company would keep the name Sportsbet and continue to be run separately, but would offer additional services. This takeover then allowed Sportsbet.com.au to acquire rival betting company International All Sports Limited, ran by Mark Read, for 27.2m euros.
In 2011 Paddy Power completed its acquisition of Sportsbet.com.au, paying 132.6m Australian dollars for the remaining 39.2% share. This represented a theoretical valuation of the company as worth $338m.
Post-takeover
It admitted to the Australian parliament in 2011 that it paid A$ 3-4 million per year in commissions to companies and individuals that referred gamblers to the company; this may have been a breach of legislation that prohibited secret commissions.
In 2012 it lost a legal case over whether it had the right to install betting terminals in pubs and clubs in the state of Victoria: the appeals court found that Tabcorp had the exclusive rights in the state.
In 2013 the company was involved in a legal dispute with the government of Victoria over whether it had breached a Victoria state law prohibiting bonuses for joining a betting site, or whether being based in Northern Territory the Victoria law did not apply.
Management
Since April 2013, Sportsbet.com.au's chairman is Patrick Kennedy (Paddy Power CEO), replacing Matt Tripp who was previously CEO of Sportsbet from 2005 to 2011.
Its current CEO is Cormac Barry. One of the team that set up paddypower.com in 2000, he joined Sportsbet.com.au in 2009 as commercial director. He became CEO in 2011 after Paddy Power completed their acquisition of the company.