Australians to Spend $26 Billion on Sports Betting in 2014

The Sunday Telegraph has learned that bettors in Australia will stake a total of $26 billion on horse racing and sports betting events in 2014 alone as the market enforces its reputation as a genuine Mecca for gambling operators.

According to the report, the country residents will wager an average of $1,200 on this week’s Melbourne Cup, 90,000 horse races, AFL, NRL, soccer, basketball and other popular sporting events taking place around the globe.

This huge increase in the total amount placed on sports wagers has a lot to do with the rise of the online and mobile market, with Australia’s largest bookmaker Tabcorp accepting approximately 45% of all bets outside of their retail outlets. Out of the $26 billion expected to be wagered across the market, TAB will end the year with some $2 billion in profits.

The upcoming Melbourne Cup will again be one of the most heavily bet events among the country’s punters, with some $300 million to be wagered on the competition, including single bets of $200,000 or more per race.

Tabcorp Reinforces Leading Position in the Market

Taking some 42 percent of all bets placed in the country, TAB has seen some unbelievable figures of late and the company expects the steady growth to continue in years to come as they believe fixed-odds betting in Australia is still in its infancy.

“Fixed Odds betting has just taken off in Australia,” says TAB betting boss Craig Nugent.

“We’ve grown from a $42 million business in our first year to $4.2 billion in 16 years.”

Bettors in Australia continue to wager money mostly on horse racing events, with the sport accounting for around 85 percent of all bets placed in Australia, although other sports are starting to attract huge crowds as well.

The country also has a problem with illegal betting shops, which are estimated to account for 14 percent of the gambling profits and TAB is desperate to see the government address the issue as quickly as possible.

Australian residents are not supposed to place their wagers with offshore bookmakers that do not hold a license in the country, but with the government doing almost nothing to stop them, this remains a burning issue.

TAB representatives also feel that foreign operators licensed in the low-taxing Northern Territory, namely Sportingbet, Bet365 and Sportsbet, have an unfair advantage over those companies required to return a portion of their profits to the racing industry.