Betfred applies for Australia licence

UK-facing operator Betfred has applied for an Australian online gaming licence in the country’s Northern Territory spending the last six months exploring one of the world’s most lucrative gambling markets, eGaming Review has learned.

Describing the business as still in “exploratory mode” and in the process of “market research and fact finding” a source close to the matter told eGR the Gibraltar licensed company was still assessing the territory and meeting local operators.

eGR understands Betfred has a small team of industry experts on the ground exploring a number of different strategies including the possibility of acquiring a business in order to catch up with the competition.

If it chose to go live in Australia the owner of the UK Tote would be entering a crowded market with a number of international players establishing bases there and grabbing large chunks of market share in recent years.

Paddy Power owned Sportsbet and Sportingbet owned Centrebet ““ until the confirmation of its £454m takeover by William Hill ““ both claim around 20% market share respectively, while bet365, Betfair and Unibet, through its January 2012 acquisition of Betchoice, all have a strong presence in the £6bn market.

In mid-November Paddy Power announced that a strong online performance, particularly from its Australian operations, helped it record third-quarter net revenue growth of 23% for the period from 1 July to 14 November.

Online net revenues in Australia rose 39% year-on-year as the operator continued to see strong progress from its Sportsbet brand.