INSIGHT
AUSTRALIA: EVOLUTION
AND OPPORTUNITY
Andy Scott of Digital Fuel could not possibly have foreseen how crowded and competitive the market
would become when he moved down under four years ago, but there are still plenty of areas there for
the taking in a “regulated” Australia, he writes.
SO MUCH HAS changed in the last four
years since I moved to Australia from the
UK that it’s been difficult to keep track.
However, here’s a quick run-down of what
has transpired since my move in 2011.
We have seen Unibet come on board
with the acquisition of Betchoice. BetEzy
became BetEasy, who subsequently took
on the Betfair fixed-odds business, and in
March of this year went through another
complete rebrand to become CrownBet.
The Betfair Exchange is still present as its
own entity.
Centrebet was purchased by Sportingbet,
which was then taken over by the William
Hill Group. Another William Hill purchase
included the Tom Waterhouse brand, which
meant that the UK giant now had a fairly
healthy share of the Australian market.
Confused? Well this year, Sportingbet has
also been rebranded and is now William
Hill, with both Centrebet and Tom
Waterhouse expected to be consolidated
under the one name by early 2016.
In 2012, we saw the launch of
Bookmaker.com by the Brisbane-based
Gaming Investments. They also owned
Panda Gaming, a marketing company
operating a large portfolio of dedicated
sports and racing portals. Enter Ladbrokes.
With the purchase of Bookmaker.com, in
addition to the Melbourne-based Betstar,
Ladbrokes.com.au is now a major part of
the betting landscape Down Under.
Let’s not forget bet365, Tattsbet, which is
soon to become UBet, and a host of other
new local operators that have joined the
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already established Paddy-Power-owned
Sportsbet, Tab.com.au and its other online
brand, Luxbet. It’s certainly become a
crowded market.
Australia’s population is a touch over
23 million, and in research carried out by
roymorgan.com for the year 2013, circa
750,000 had placed a bet online. Compare
this to other markets such as the UK,
where it is estimated there were over two
million betting online in the same period.
With this in mind, you do question how
the Australian industry can sustain so
many operators.
In December 2014, after just six months
of trading, Betfred Chief Executive John
Haddock announced: “Following a
review of the business it was felt that the
market had become overpopulated, we
have therefore decided that our marketing
spend and ongoing infrastructure costs are
best spent elsewhere.” Nevertheless, the
Australian online betting market is still
to bet in-play online is still not permitted.
Advertising restrictions are complex
too, with each state having their own
interpretation of what is acceptable. As an
example, in Victoria and New South Wales,
the two biggest betting markets, you are not
able to advertise an inducement to open an
account; this is not however the case
in Queensland.
As you would expect, bookmakers
and the established affiliates dominate
natural rankings in SERPs across the high
conversion keywords. The importance
of this is exaggerated significantly by the
small marketplace, and the lower audience
volumes in long-tail opportunities, an
obvious starting point for any new entrant
into a market.
So what are the barriers, aside from
the difficulty in acquiring targeted traffic
organically? Restrictions in paid ads are
making it difficult for any new entrant
into the market from gaining quick wins.
“Restrictions in paid ads are making it difficult for any
new entrant into the market from gaining quick wins.”
growing rapidly, with higher-than-average
customer LTV’s appealing to both the
bookmaker and their affiliated partners.
Now while all of this has been
happening on the field of play, behind the
scenes, things seem to be moving slower
than ever. The regulation of products like
casino and poker doesn’t even seem to be a
discussion at the moment, while the ability
To advertise a website on Google, Bing or
Facebook as an example, you need to have a
betting and gaming licence. This is an avenue
some affiliates have taken, but as I understand
it, this can be an expensive process, and one
that is probably out of reach for those just
looking to test the waters.
To make a successful attempt at entering
the Australian wagering space, the